War Convocation
by Tomoyuki Tanaka
Summary: When the Adeptus Mechanicus gathers its warriors for war, it deploys formidable armies that represent the might of the Red Planet. Reliant upon the combined strength of honorable Imperial Knights, devastating robots and battle servitors of the Legio Cybernetica and the relentless soldiers of the Skitarii legions, the War Convocation tramples upon any enemy brave enough to face them
1. 0001

0001

The red reminded me a lot of Mars.

Of course, I hadn't actually seen the real Mars, just the fuzzy images from vid-picts and holo-vids, but the Mechanicus always captured data accurately in a cold, methodical manner, so there was no reason to doubt the authenticity of the redness of Mars that the vids presented.

However, the red was not the result of naturally occurring iron(III) oxide in the soil, but fresh human blood.

"This must be where the Iron Lords made their last stand."

The Iron Lords, one of the rare Adeptus Astartes chapters that were successors to the Iron Hands, had sent a request for reinforcements quite some time ago. The Adeptus Mechanicus, having close ties to the Iron Hands, readily agreed to send help, and the detachment closest to the Genova system happened to be us. Our fleet immediately made warp translation, but it still took us two weeks to reach here.

It seemed that we had arrived too late. By the time we made planetfall, the Iron Lords regiment that was stationed here failed to respond to any of our attempts to contact them. And when we reached the site where the request was broadcasted, we found it as red as the sands of Mars.

"At least they didn't go down without a fight," a voice said from the vox-caster in my machine. Colonel Ikeda, the commander of the Imperial Guard regiment that had accompanied House Yato, was following closely behind in an enormous tank, having commandeered the mobile fortress as his base of operations. "As expected of the Astartes."

He was right. Within the charred, broken skeleton that used to be an Iron Lords barracks were countless bodies. The Space Marines were barely recognizable, their corpses burned away in the torn, smoldering husks of their power armor. However, not all the dead were dressed in the familiar black and red power armor of the Iron Lords. Outnumbering the genetically enhanced soldiers, hundreds of battlesuits lay tangled with the bodies of their dead opponents, their blue suits crumpled, wrecked or crushed.

"Tau battle suits," I muttered as I strode over them in my giant super-heavy walker. The Knight Crusader that I was in, _Ryuujin_ , trampled upon unfortunate corpses and armor indiscriminately, its clawed legs crushing ceramite armor into powder. I muttered an apology under my breath and made the sign of the Aquila. As much as I wanted to avoid desecrating the dead, I didn't have time to maneuver my massive machine. "Um, I see Fire Warriors."

[Our analysis reveals that there are XV8 Crisis battlesuits, Stealth battlesuits and XV88 Broadside battlesuits, knight lord.]

A blurt of binary crackled from my vox, only to be translated into Gothic upon the countless pict-screens I had floating in front of me. I suppressed a sigh, annoyed at the Tech-priest's insistence on speaking binary, but resigned. As long as the Mechanicus continued to hold sway over the Knightly houses by monopolizing weapons and armor technology, we were all but subservient to them. Admittedly, it wasn't bad, but it could get irritating at times.

"Thank you, Magos."

"Er...what did he say?"

Not having the same translation device that I had installed upon my Knight, Colonel Ikeda was left out of the loop. Unfortunately for me, the Imperial Knights of Draconis had to serve as mediators and in-betweens for both the Draconis Imperial Guard regiment that were raised and trained in the Knight world of Draconis III, and the Tech-priests that lorded over the forge world of Draconis IV. It was a tiresome affair, as was all matters dealing with politics and the two races of humans and augmented humans - actually, some would classify the Mechanicus as a completely separate race from mankind - but it was my responsibility and the Knights of House Yato always took their responsibilities seriously.

"I was right. It's a Tau army. You see those blue suits over there? They have Crisis suits, Stealth suits and Broadside suit along with lots of Fire Warriors. It seemed that they weren't holding anything back when they launched the assault."

"Hmm...they probably got massacred in melee combat the moment they breached the base."

"I agree with that line of analysis," the Magos quipped, a rare instance of him speaking with his flesh voice instead of binary. Perhaps he thought it more efficient to include the flesh-and-human commander in the conversation. Emperor knows how much time I wasted translating back and forth between the two factions. "In fact, there are two VX104 Riptide battlesuits approximately fifty-four meters to the north of the Iron Lords base. Analysis of the damage indicates that the Iron Lords engaged the two suits in melee combat and clobbered them with power fists and thunder hammers."

I snorted in laughter. "What were those Riptide suits doing, fighting the Iron Lords hand to hand?"

"They must have been pretty desperate," Ikeda remarked, also amused. The Magos, on the other hand, did not share our merriment.

"Evidence indicates that the Iron Lords sprung a trap on the Tau invaders and ambushed the two Riptide suits just when they were infiltrating the base."

"That makes sense."

We moved along, our heavy machinery clunking heavily against the solemn remains of the burnt-out base, reduced to so much rubble by the Tau's formidable firepower. I scanned the area for any sign of survivors, but there were no life-signs. The Magos concurred with me in a binaric blurt.

[Our sensors indicate no signs of life. The base is completely dead, my lord.]

"I'm not your lord, but fine. We move on. I'm guessing Archmagos Styrimidon wants us to purge the planet of xenos, so we should track them down and burn them all."

[Affirmative. Actually, Archmagos Styrimidon would prefer if we don't burn the battlesuits. He requests that we leave at least some of them intact as much as possible so that we can bring them back to Draconis IV for analysis.]

Already servitors and junior tech-priests were forming up behind the imperial army, collecting the Tau battlesuits and loading them up into vehicles that would take them to transport ships that we left back in the starports many miles back. Unlike the Skitarii who march on relentlessly in front of us, the junior tech-priests had a fleet of Trojan support vehicles at their disposal, towing the battlesuits away ruthlessly but efficiently.

We soldiers should just leave them to their work.

"Then we march on."

Yes. Sensors from the battlefleet in orbit indicate that there is a Tau stronghold eighty-eight point seven kilometers northeast of here. My lord Archmagos Styrimidon requests that we make haste. Already there is a small Tau detachment sent out to meet us.

That wasn't good. Closing my eyes and trying to calm the beginnings of a pounding headache, I switched the vox back to Colonel Ikeda.

"Sir, it looks like the xenos have noticed our presence. They are sending a small military force to meet us."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Ikeda sounded almost gleeful. "Let's crush these filthy xenos."

We moved out from the ruins of the base, the Skitarii Vanguard forming the...well, vanguard, and leading the formation. Behind them, the numerous squadrons of Onager Dunecrawlers clanked ponderously on, their mechanical, spider-like legs allowing them to cross any terrain with ease. The neutron lasers crackled with energy, the machine spirits within impatient to get into battle, and those Dunecrawlers that were equipped with Icarus arrays continued to monitor the sky for any Tau aircraft. Following their lead were the looping forms of the Ironstrider Ballistarii. Two-legged mechanical walkers that looked like one-half of the centaurs from ancient myths on Terra, they gracefully traversed the difficult terrain, their lascannons always adjusting for optimum accuracy.

They weren't known as the snipers of the Mechanicus for nothing.

I continued to move my Knight Crusader forward, leading the small contingent of Imperial Knights that trailed the Skitarii legion slightly, our formidable firepower held back just in case anything untoward happened. Lieutenant Yamada took the Knight Paladin to my right, and Lieutenant Suzuki was in the Knight Warden on my left. In this formation we resembled a spear, but it wasn't a spear meant for close combat. If we were to be engaged, I would hold position, and the other Knights on my side would move up to lock the enemy in close combat while I lay down a suppressing line of fire with my Avenger Gatling cannon and rapid-fire battle cannon to cover their charge.

At the base of our massive legs ran the spindly figures of Sicarian Ruststalkers, their transonic weaponry and chord claws humming with uneasy dissonance. I didn't see any Sicarian Infiltrators, but if they were doing their job right, they shouldn't be here. They would be moving behind enemy lines, sowing confusion and wrecking havoc on their formations.

I didn't have to be careful to avoid stomping on them. The augmented killers were inhumanly fast, their systems pumped up by a carefully concocted cocktail of drugs to keep them in a murderous rage.

[Hmm, I wonder if those Tau battlesuits can stop my transonic weaponry,] Princeps Rho-Mannu murmured to himself as he darted under the legs of my heavy suit. [I can't wait to rip apart those suits and dissect the systems.]

"I'm sure you'll get your chance," I assured him, easily treading ground as I guided my metal steed with my thoughts. The process was a rather complicated one. House Yato, and all the Knightly houses of Draconis III, were different from most Knightly houses of the Imperium. The only House we shared a close connection with was House Taranis of Mars. We didn't need to connect with our suits via neural sockets in the Throne Mechanicum. Free of such bionics and augmentation, we could pilot our Knights freely, connecting with our suits through helmets that didn't require any plugging or neural sockets.

I didn't know how the process worked, but it included reading our brain waves or something like that. Even the tech-priests of Draconis IV didn't know how they worked, but they built our current suits based on the Standard Template Construct they unearthed on Draconis III thousands of years ago. Apparently our Knight suits were based off early prototypes that were featured in the STC, but the Mechanicus being the Mechanicus, the tech-priests of Draconis IV refused to share their find with other forge worlds.

No...rather, I should say, they were content to keep their find secret from other forge worlds, reveling in the ignorance of their peers. I didn't understand their reasoning, but then again there was a good reason why I avoided politics.

Thanks to that, House Yato, allied with House Uesugi and House Takeda, was one of the largest Knightly houses in the Imperium of Man, second only to House Raven. We were also one of the most loyal to the Emperor, second only to House Hawkshroud.

Behind our Knights was an endless column of Leman Russ Executioner tanks, escorting a single Doomhammer - _The Emperor's Wrath_. The Doomhammer was a super-heavy tank that also served as a massive transport, which was why Colonel Ikeda chose it as his mobile base of operations. Equipped with a devastating Magma cannon, the Doomhammer traded the fearsome titan-slaying power of the Volcano cannon on Shadowswords for transport capacity. The Magma cannon was still deadly, though, able to punch a hole through void shields and pierce the heavy armor of a god-machine from the Titan legions, even if it wasn't able to blow the damned thing up.

Speaking of which, I wished we had a Titan legion with us. The _Legio Gojira_ , which founded a Collegia Titanica base on Draconis IV, didn't follow our fleet this time, their incredible firepower having been outsourced to the war effort in the Cadian gate. Apparently Abbadon the Despoiler had returned for the thirteenth time to end the Imperium of Man once and for all...only to fall short again. I had to admire his tenacity, though. To fail thirteen times and still refusing to give up...then again, he only failed thirteen times throughout 10,000 years, so he probably had enough time to get over each failure.

Well, I had to make do with the Doomhammer _The Emperor's Wrath_ for super-heavy support then. I heard that our tech-priests in Draconis IV had tried to negotiate with the tech-priests of the forge world Ryza to get the template for the super-heavy Stormblade tank, but all they received were mere hints to building Leman Russ Executioners. To their credit, the tech-priests of Draconis were able to piece the hints and findings together to build a cache of plasma weaponry.

Ironically enough, we became more efficient in mass-producing cheaper Leman Russ Executioners than Ryza, something that was helped largely by two Ork Waaagh! invasions of the beleaguered forge world. However, we ended up favoring quantity over quality. While we produced many more Leman Russ Executioners at a lower cost, they completely lacked the cooling technology that Ryza's Leman Russ Executioners possessed, making the poor tanks prone to blowing up from overheating of its own main weapon. The aforementioned dreadful Executioner plasma cannon fired with the fury of a miniature sun, vaporizing any unfortunate heretic or xeno in a huge blast of superheated plasma. The price of such devastating power was the Executioner plasma cannon's tendency to overheat and blow up, three times more likely than a normal plasma cannon, in fact. To make matters worse, the damned Draconis tech-priests insisted on equipping the majority of our Leman Russ Executioners with 2 plasma cannon sponsons, which further jacked up the tanks' already-high chances of self-destructing by several notches. To the cold and calculating tech-priests of Draconis IV, it didn't matter if human lives were lost when the tank finally blew up. All that mattered was the cheap tank blowing up an enemy contingent that was worth many times the Executioner's cost.

It was more cost-efficient to fight a battle that way, and human conscripts were in plentiful supply.

That was also the reason why the armor infantry of Draconis III were mostly equipped with plasma guns. About half the infantry used heavy flamers and flamers, but slightly more than half deployed with plasma guns. Colonel Ikeda himself wielded a plasma pistol while his command team were all armed with plasma guns. I just hoped the veteran troopers didn't blow themselves up with their deadly but volatile weapons - it would be a waste of lives and good combat experience. Thankfully, Ikeda possessed an Aquila's Kurov, which gave his armored unit Preferred Enemy. In his words, his unit's plasma weapons would prefer killing their enemies than blowing themselves up (basically, the Emperor with all of His merciful grace, allowed us to re-roll Gets Hot! rolls of ones).

Above the line of armored tanks flew a small squadron of Vendettas that were seconded to us, the Imperial navy pilots tasked with blowing up enemy armor with their trio of lascannons. If the enemy had APCs, the Vendettas would crack them open with searing beams of red destruction, which allowed the Leman Russ Executioners to bath the infantry within in plasma fury.

That was the logic anyway.

Lumbering behind us were the silent behemoths of the Legio Cybernetica, Kastelan robot maniples that were escorted by cybernetica datasmiths who scurried alongside their hulking charges. Magos Sigmar, the tech-priest who constantly updated me on data and analysis regarding our mission, strode closely to the Kastelan robots, his bodyguard detachment of lobotomized battle-servitors rolling over the sands around him in a protective formation. Kataphron Destroyers, all of them. Half were armed with deadly plasma culverins because the Draconis system was famous for producing plasma weapons after Ryza's crisis, and the other half had heavy grav-cannons that could crumple any armored suit like a drink can, squashing the wearer inside into bloody juice. Considering we were up against an army of battlesuits, they were quite the appropriate weapons.

We continued on, a silent parade of killing machines that clambered over the desolate terrain relentlessly in search of prey. At least it was silent to me. Unlike the tank crews or the veteran troops ferried to battle inside the Doomhammer, I was alone in my machine, with no co-pilot or companion to talk to. It would be awkward to open up a vox to chat with fellow officers - the Draconis Imperial Guard Armored Regiment viewed us Knights as semi-deities, second only to the Emperor or the Omnissiah, and quite frankly it was near impossible to hold a natural conversation with them. Not without them gushing over how it was an honor to converse with me, or awkward silence as they carefully considered their words for fear of offending me. Emperor's Throne, we Knights weren't offended that easily.

We were only offended by the existence of Traitors, daemons, heretics and hostile xenos (friendly xenos were fine - they were extremely useful as Allies of Convenience until they inevitably betray us after our common enemy was defeated. Then again, that was why we always keep One Eye Open on them at all times).

Fortunately, my loneliness was alleviated slightly when Colonel Ikeda opened up a channel to me.

"What do you think the Tau are doing on such a world so far out in the Damocles Gulf? Didn't the Ethereal, or whatever those blue-skinned xenos call their leaders, decree this sector as the forbidden zone or something?"

"I don't know. Maybe they lifted the ban or something. Who knows what these xenos are thinking?"

Ikeda laughed. "True, that. Only the Emperor knows."

I smiled as well, warming up to the conversation and relieved at decent human contact. To be honest, I much preferred talking to the enthusiastic human soldiers of the Imperial Guard than the cold, emotionless machine-men of the Mechanicus. Even if the act of warm camaraderie was an illusion, it was still a vital human psychological reaction, one that allowed me to fight at peak condition. I had no doubt the Mechanicus was listening in to our dialogue - they probably tapped into all vox channels and recorded every word - but they rarely spoke unless it was to further the mission or issue an order.

Like now, for example.

"Lord Knight, Colonel Ikeda. We have detected enemy movement at approximately three kilometers southwest."

Magos Sigmar, the tech-priest Dominus leading the Skitarii legions and legio cybernetica robots, spoke up, cutting into our conversation unfeelingly. I frowned at his words, surprised by the new direction.

"Southwest? Weren't the enemies coming from the base in the northeast?"

"Affirmative. There is a twenty-seven point three four percent chance that they are aiming to attack us via a flanking maneuver."

"That's quite low. So what's the other seventy-two point six six percent supposed to be?"

Magos Sigmar hesitated for a moment, quite a rare occurrence for a tech-priest of the Cult Mechanicus, before he replied.

"It is entirely possible that they belong to another faction that has broken off from the main Tau Empire."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Ikeda demanded. In response, I received a few picts from the Skitarii Rangers that had spotted the enemy. Ikeda must have received them too, because he continued after a few moments. "Okay, I see them, but they look the same to me. They're all dressed in battlesuits. It's clear that they are preparing for an attack."

"Yes, but not us. The weapons on those battlesuits are lowered and powered down, and the ones at the back are directing their long-range artillery units at the other Tau army that is approaching us."

"That's not all," I added as I swept my eyes over the pict-screens, studying the new Tau forces. "The ones we saw back at the Iron Lords base, the battlesuits that attacked the Astartes? They were all blue. This new Tau force is entirely red."

 _As red as Mars_. I smirked, but didn't voice out the thought. Any xenos that bore a huge semblance to the color of the Mechanicus's prime homeworld couldn't be all that bad.

"Not only that, this Tau faction is hailing us and requesting for communication," Sigmar continued apprehensively. "How should I respond?"

"How do we know if it's a trick? They could shoot at us the moment we turn our weapons away from them."

"They are Tau," I replied grudgingly. "If they wanted to shoot us, they would have fired upon us long ago from further away. I'll be honest. In a contest of range and firepower, the Tau are superior. We only have the advantage when we move in and close up on them."

In other words, there was no benefit for this new Tau force to throw away their tactical advantages and allow us to approach them. They knew as well as we did that they were completely hopeless and outmatched in melee combat. Glancing at the pict-screen again, I saw several red Broadside battlesuits pointing their heavy rail rifles not at us, but at the blue Tau army. The towering red Riptide at the back also had his ion accelerator fixed on the blue Stealth suits, most likely awaiting an order from his commander. The Hammerhead gunships beside the Riptide were also all facing in the northeast direction, and I knew from experience that if the red Tau faction wanted us dead, those Hammerhead gunships would have blasted our Imperial Knights apart with their super long-range railguns.

It was obvious they wanted to talk to us, not fight.

It didn't take me long to decide. Opening up a vox channel, I finally responded to Sigmar's question.

"All right. Power down our weapons and approach the red Tau army cautiously. Let's hear what they have to say."


	2. 0010

0010

The Tau that came to greet us turned out to be not one of those heavily armored and protected by a battlesuit, but an envoy who was dressed simply in long, blue robes that were marked with the red that covered his warlike brethren. From the data I received regarding the advanced xenos, I gathered that he was a diplomat belonging to the water caste.

"I am El'Hassai," the Tau introduced himself, bowing his head slightly. "We have come to offer you help as well as request a little favor."

"Why should we trust you?" Colonel Ikeda demanded, having exited the safety of his mighty _The Emperor's Wrath_ for a more diplomatic role. The commanding officer of the Imperial Guard armor regiment couldn't hide inside his Doomhammer if he wanted any part of the negotiations. "I find it hard to believe that you'll rather side with us than your own kind."

I felt relieved that Colonel Ikeda didn't say "filthy kind" or "stinking xenos". It would have been a disaster if we opened up supposedly diplomatic negotiations in such a hostile manner. The Tau were probably as eager to shoot us as we were, and I didn't want to give them any excessive reasons to. Fortunately, for all his hatred and simmering resentment, Colonel Ikeda was able to show some restraint.

Beside him was Magos Sigmar, who represented the Adeptus Mechanicus. The cogboy was probably the sole person in the Mechanicus army that could actually think for himself, if I were to be honest. The rest were mindless drones made up from the Skitarii or giant robots. Well, the datasmiths could fill in for the tech-priest, but they were too obsessed with taking care of their Kastelan robots that they couldn't be bothered. The next best person would be the Vanguard Alpha that was leading the Skitarii. Unfortunately, despite being allowed a mind and personality of his own (for him to make optimal decisions in the battlefield), he would most likely be hijacked by one of the tech-priests in the ships above and controlled by Archmagos Styrimidon directly. That would be an affront to the Tech-priest Dominus on the ground, Magos Sigmar, so the Archmagos wisely left the matters here to him.

Representing House Yato was little, young me. I had clambered out of the relative comfort of my machine and was now standing in the barren desert with nothing to protect me from the elements except my simple Draconis Imperial Guard uniform. Neither Yamada nor Suzuki seemed inclined to talk to the xenos, so they left that troublesome matter to me, the ranking officer in our Knightly house. Oh well.

"You don't have to, but I feel that cooperation here would lead to mutual benefits," El'Hassai replied, not at all put off by Ikeda's tone. "We can part ways affably after driving out the Shadowsun expeditionary force."

My eyes went up at the mention of that name.

"Shadowsun?"

"Yes." El'Hassai nodded gravely, displaying his flair for the dramatics. Well, diplomats often had to act and perform exaggeratedly to bring their point across, something that we military folks excelled better in with blunt, sharp orders and sometimes a gun to the face. Having a weapon pointed at someone could really bring out his or her utmost obedience, better than any long-winded speeches or honeyed words. "I suppose an explanation is in order."

"The Farsight Enclaves," Sigmar blurted out. Both Ikeda and I glanced at him in surprise, but El'Hassai affirmed it with a smile and a nod.

"Yes. We are from the Farsight Enclaves, loyal to Commander Farsight and a separate faction has broken away from the main Tau Empire to pursue our own vision of the Greater Good. However, there are some in the Tau Empire who see Commander Farsight as a traitor, and wish to see us eradicated."

I can't say I blame the Ethereals who must be directing those orders. The Imperium also wanted to see all xenos eradicated, after all. Tactfully avoiding the mention of that, I continued to ask.

"So...they send this Commander Shadowsun to invade you guys?"

"Yes. Regrettably so. We always knew this day would come, but...it has come sooner than we expected. We were not prepared for this invasion. Commander Farsight and his XV8 Crisis teams have been exhausted and tied up with defending the sector from a tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken, and they are unable to reinforce us in time. Shadowsun has struck us at the most inopportune time."

"I see why they need our help," Ikeda remarked, rubbing his chin and suppressing a gleeful smile. "I don't see why not. The Tau Empire poses a greater threat to the Imperium of Man right now. I say we help these Farsight Enclaves out and give those damned blue-skinned xenos a bloody nose while at it."

"I concur. It appears that this is the most prudent course of action to take."

Sigmar was nodding in approval, his barely human head hidden under an expressionless robotic mask.

As for me, I couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah, I want to kick this Shadowsun's ass, Emperor willing. I know that name. She's the damned xenos commander that Patriarch Tybalt of House Terryn swore vengeance on after the defeat on Agrellan."

"Agrellan..." El'Hassai frowned as he contemplated the name for a moment before his eyes lit up in recognition. "Ah, yes. I remember now. I am sorry about the loss of your world. You must understand that we of the Farsight Enclaves took no part in that war."

"Of course not. That Shadowsun bitch did. Her stupid emissaries pissed of Patriarch Tybalt so much he sent a whole detachment of Knights to destroy her forces. Well, he failed, but I guess we have the chance to help him reclaim his honor now."

"Ah, yes. We greatly appreciate that." El'Hassai tilted his head apprehensively. "But you must understand that Commander Shadowsun herself is absent from this expeditionary force. She probably has remained in the main force that is still executing the third sphere expansion."

I groaned in disappointment. That meant we didn't get to gloat over Tybalt about defeating an enemy he couldn't. Oh well, we had to make do with securing victory over the present forces.

"By the way, Baron..."

I realized that El'Hassai was referring to me. I quickly solved the misunderstanding.

"Oh, I'm not a Baron. Actually, the Knightly houses of Draconis III use a different ranking system from most Knightly houses. Our equivalent of a Baron is Daimyo. We still have Forge Master and Master of Tactician, but most of the high-ranking Knights are called Daimyo. Above them all is the Shogun, the _generalissimo_ who is basically our equivalent of a High King or Princeps."

"Um, so..."

"I'm Captain Tanaka Taihei. This is Colonel Ikeda Itsuki of the Draconis Imperial Guard Armor Regiment, 74th Battalion, and that is Magos Sigmar, Tech-priest Dominus of the Skitarri legion and Legio Cybernetica."

I didn't know what number or division Sigmar's Skitarri legion and cybernetica forces were - the Mechanicus always used complicated symbols and numbers like Sigma 74 or something. Or was it Epsilon 21? Whatever.

El'Hassai nodded as he cocked his head, still confused. "Um, so Captain Tanaka, was it? Are you the one in charge. Or is it Colonel Ikeda?"

Ikeda and I exchanged glances while Sigmar remained staring at the Tau envoy, his eyes not visible through those uncanny goggles.

"All of us are in charge. Um, don't mind my rank. It's just an honorary rank given to Knights so that we can integrate better with the Draconis Imperial Guard armor regiments. I'm sure Magos Sigmar will leave the decisions to us unless he has objections."

"I have no objections."

"Yeah."

"Good. Well, do you remember the favor I mentioned earlier?"

Now that El'Hassai talked about it, I did indeed remember. I almost thought the request was for us to drive Shadowsun's expeditionary forces out of the Farsight Enclaves' planet, but they already said they would "help" us with it. The favor must be a different matter then.

"Yeah. What is it? No promises, though."

"I only ask that you listen. Accepting it is entirely up to you."

"Sounds good to me," Ikeda agreed and gave the go-ahead. El'Hassai smiled and proceeded.

"We actually have a plasma munitions factory further southwest."

Sigmar seemed to twitch at that, but when I looked at him he was completely immobile - the tech-priest standing as rigidly as a statue. Must be my imagination, then.

"Hah! Our plasma weapons are more destructive!"

"Yes, but your plasma weapons have the tendency to get hot and blow up in your face, so to speak."

"Only one out of six chances of that happening," I muttered. And probably one out of thirty-six chances if we had Preferred Enemy...I mean, Ikeda's Kurov's Aquila helping us manage our shooting tactically.

"Still a high chance comparatively to ours, which don't blow up at all."

Admittedly, while the Tau's plasma weaponry were weaker in strength by one grade, they could still penetrate armor as easily as ours. We did have blast templates to go with our plasma cannons, though, something the Tau lacked. Well, maybe our excessive use of firepower was the very reason why the plasma cannons tended to blow up so easily.

"What about the plasma munitions factory?" Sigmar asked, kindly directing us back to the topic at hand.

"Ah, yes. Well...you see, it has been captured by a small force of Fire Warriors, Crisis battlesuits and Stealth battlesuits. I think they also have a couple of Broadside battlesuits and two teams of Pathfinders there as well."

Ikeda made a face. "That sucks for you."

"I am assuming you want our assistance in recapturing the plasma munitions factory," Sigmar said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Well, yes. If you are kind enough to do so." El'Hassai was taken aback by Sigmar's blunt manner. The poor guy wasn't used to talking to the cogboys, but he would just have to get used to it. "We would like to do so ourselves, but we are committing all our troops to repelling the main Tau expeditionary force to the northeast."

Ikeda and I looked at each other, then back at El'Hassai.

"Can't we recapture the plasma munitions factory after we crush the expeditionary force?"

"There is that, yes, but Commander O'Shovah was thinking that if we recapture the plasma munitions factory, we will be able to resupply our forces in this area. He predicts that this will be a long, drawn-out battle, even with your help, particularly if the expeditionary force chooses to retreat back into their captured fortress and turns this into a siege battle."

That was right. The Skitarii intelligence had reported a Tau military base from which the blue battlesuit army was coming from. If they all decided to retreat and hide behind those AV15 walls, this was going to turn into a long battle of attrition. Not to mention, we lacked the firepower and siege capabilities of the Ordo Reductor or the Centurio Ordinatus, having only brought a detachment of Imperial Knights on the explorator fleet. It was only because we were coming from the same world that the Draconis Imperial Guard Armor Regiment happened to be traveling with us when we both received the distress call, otherwise we wouldn't have the massive magma cannon of the Doomhammer either.

"And there's one more thing." El'Hassai smiled with the knowing triumph of a hunter that had his prey right where he wanted them. I couldn't help but shudder. "In return, we'll offer you data on the Tau plasma weaponry."

"Deal," Magos Sigmar said immediately before Ikeda or I could respond. The both of us gaped at the augmented biomechanical priest, half in annoyance and half in resignation.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I most certainly am. Gathering data on the Tau's plasma weaponry would prove instrumental in stabilizing the volatile cores of our plasma weapons and drastically reduce the chances of self-destruction and overheating."

I envied Sigmar's calm manner. Everything was so simple and clear-cut for him. As long as he received the Omnissiah's guidance, he could make decisions without hesitation. It also helped that the tech-priests such as Archmagos Styrimidon who was monitoring the Mechanicus military below approved of his decisions. They probably shared the same opinion.

"The Draconis Explorator Fleet was dispatched to take custody of a STC discovered on a world known as Asmodai, somewhere on the fringes of the Maelstrom. However, we were diverted to aid the now deceased Iron Lords Space Marines chapter on this planet, Genova Prime. Having been forced to postpone the process of claiming the STC, my lord Archmagos Styrimidon and I think it would be better to at least return to Draconis IV with valuable xenos technology rather than empty handed. This is a good trade."

"Can't argue with that," I muttered, highly aware of how desperate the tech-priests of the Mechanicus were for scraps of data and technology. We were almost on par with the tech-priests of Stygies VIII in our willingness to go through such lengths to obtain xenos technology. "So how should we split our forces?"

"I only need my battle servitors and a single maniple from Legio Cybernetica to help me. I will place the Skitarii legions under your command. Please work with Alpha Raiji 44-Stroika to crush the blue Tau army. He is a capable commander who can lead the Skitarii in my absence."

I didn't doubt that. There was a rumor that Knight candidates from the many Knightly houses in Draconis III that failed the ritual of bonding with their machines were sent to the Mechanicus to become cybernetic soldiers. Being of good imperial stock, they were often thought to be transformed into Princeps such as Rho-Mannu or Alpha Raiji 44-Stroika, their noble minds possessing extensive tactical knowledge and firm leadership.

But still...

"Will that be enough?"

"It is. I have sent a squad of Rangers to scout the factory and they spotted only a small Tau force there."

I suddenly recalled the twitch I thought I imagined when El'Hassai first mentioned the factory. Sigmar must have sent orders through noospheric data transference to a Skitarii Ranger squad. Had I been upon my Knight, I would have seen those orders on the pict-screen, but outside of my machine, a purely human pilot, I was excluded from the binaric blurts and other communication processes of the Mechanicus.

"Only 2 teams of Fire Warriors, 2 teams of Pathfinders, 2 Broadside battlesuits, 4 Crisis battlesuits and 3 Stealth battlesuits, supplemented by a single Devilfish." I could almost hear the smile in Sigmar's voice. "More than enough."

"All right, if you say so," I said, praying fervently to the Emperor that Sigmar wasn't biting off more than he could chew. I couldn't say the guy was my friend, but he was a competent commander who cooperated well enough with the human elements of the Draconis system, and to lose him meant working with a much more unsociable Tech-priest Dominus who would pester me to replace my flesh and blood with bionics and augmented limbs. That, and those Kastelan robots Sigmar was taking away were really expensive. The battle servitors, the Kataphron Destroyers, were expendable, but the robots were not.

Funny because the Kataphron Destroyers were a fused construct of lobotomized men and machine, while the Kastelan robots were completely mechanical. Then again, the Imperium viewed human lives very lowly, treating us all as expendable. My Knight was much more valuable to the Mechanicus and to House Yato than me, the pilot. Pilots could be easily replaced. The Knights...not so much. While the Mechanicus continued to churn out large numbers of Knight suits based on the STC recovered on Draconis III everyday, there were always more willing pilots than available machines.

I was one of the lucky ones...until my eventual death, that is. When that would be, I had no idea, and I didn't want to know anyhow. I just hoped they wouldn't use my skull as a servo-skull or something, but more than likely I would die in battle.

There was also the chance of surviving and retiring. Unlike the Imperial Guard, Imperial Knights had a much higher chance of surviving.

Nodding, I turned to Ikeda, who was looking at Sigmar in both amusement and disbelief. The Imperial Guard was always bemused by the mannerisms and attitudes of the Mechanicus, much more so than the Knightly houses that serve alongside them, but he had learned to live alongside their eccentricities.

"Guess it's just the two of us."

"Hah," Ikeda snorted as he glanced at _The Emperor's Wrath_ and my now empty _Ryuujin_ , who stood over us like a silent sentinel, its Avenger Gatling cannon pointed at the approaching blue Tau army. "We have so many super-heavies with us. It'll be a massacre."

"Until they run back to their Mighty Bulwark massive fortifications," I grumbled under my breath, already dreading the battle of attrition ahead.

* * *

The Tau Empire launched the opening salvo, firing upon us.

"Looks like they seized the initiative," I complained as I drove my Imperial Knight away from the railgun slugs the blue Hammerhead gunships fired at us.

"We'll cover you guys," a red Tau Crisis commander said through our vox channel, somehow gaining access to our communication systems. "Please take the chance to close in on the enemy."

"Sure."

The Knights were fast. As the Farsight Enclaves responded, their red Hammerhead gunship and Broadside battlesuits blasting away with long-range weaponry, the Imperial forces began breaking off and moving toward the enemy from the opposite direction. The two Tau armies traded blows, the railgun projectiles raining upon each other. The Riptide battlesuits moved up, firing relentlessly with their ion accelerators and missing half their shots. The Tau, while known for their devastating, long-range firepower, weren't exactly very accurate with their shots unless they had markerlights. They tended to miss half of their shots, what with having a Ballistic Skill of 3. Only the Hammerhead gunship pilots, the aces, were accurate, their railgun rounds slamming into the enemies' ranks two out of three times.

I shuddered as a Hammerhead's railgun round sailed over my machine, screeching as it left a ripple in the air in its wake. I recalled how the ace pilots in Agrellan hammered the poor Knights of House Terryn with their pinpoint accuracy and high strength shots. In fact, some famous pilot called Longstrike was notorious for taking down a Titan.

I was glad the enemy was concentrating their fire on the poor Farsight Enclaves instead of us.

"Is this wise?"

I glanced at one of the pict-screens that was recording the rear view of my Knight. Colonel Ikeda's _The Emperor's Wrath_ was trailing behind me, its magma cannon already loosing destructive volleys of energy and shelling out the enemy, while being escorted by a column of Leman Russ Executioners.

"What do you mean?"

"Those blue-skinned xenos might shoot us in the back while we charge the enemy in front of the fortress."

"They have no reason to," I replied, deftly guiding my steed across the sandy terrain and kicking up a cloud of dust to obscure our approaching forces from view. "They need us...for now, at least."

"I would hate to get caught in the middle of their crossfire."

"If they wanted to shoot us, they would have done so long ago," I pointed out. "Look, they're taking the heat off us by absorbing the fire from the enemy. I don't think they'll be in any shape to shoot us in the back."

The Farsight Enclaves, consisting largely of Crisis battlesuits, were scattering all over the place. Unlike the blue Tau army, who relied heavily on Fire Warriors, Devilfish and other vehicles, the more mobile Farsight Enclaves made use of their jump jets and enhanced mobility to duck the shots. The Riptides, while not as agile as the Crisis suits, withstood the long-range fire, their shields rippling as the projectiles harmlessly struck their large, towering figures. The single Hammerhead gunship jinked and did a barrel-roll to avoid incoming railgun fire, while the cumbersome Broadsides trusted in their heavy armor to weather the blows. Here and there, a Broadside battlesuit fell, the face and front of their armor wrecked and splintered beyond saving, but the survivors grimly continued their assault.

I doubted the Farsight Enclaves had any chance to shoot us in the back, not when facing such a furious onslaught of projectiles.

Meanwhile, the Devilfish transports that ferried Fire Warriors were now speeding toward the faltering Farsight Enclaves, heedless of the incoming fire and eager to finish the red soldiers off. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the red Crisis battlesuits were making headway in their advance, jumping over bullet paths and energy blasts to close in on their enemies to unleash devastating bursts from their fusion blasters or flickering salvos of explosives from their missile pods.

"We're in range!" I shouted, once the Devilfish transports sailed across the red line that marked our range in a pict-screen. "Fire!"

"Roger that." Alpha Raiji 44-Stroika said, complying with my order. He must have sent binaric blurts to the relevant forces, because the next moment the Onager Dunecrawlers opened up. The crawlers that were equipped with Icarus Array fired a few rockets and autocannon rounds, splitting the Devilfish open and forcing the Fire Warriors to pour out. The Dunecrawlers with the neutron lasers fired next, vaporizing the armored blue warriors into vapor. I joined in, my rapid-fire battle cannon loosing huge rounds that smashed into the bewildered Devilfish, unaware that a new enemy had joined the fray.

And then the Leman Russ Executioners were within range.

"Fire!" Colonel Ikeda shouted gleefully, and as one the column of armored tanks opened up with their plasma cannons. Several Leman Russ Executioners turned red-hot as their Executioner plasma cannons overheated, but the result was satisfying. Scores of Fire Warriors vanished, disintegrated by destructive blue clouds of plasma, and even the more heavily armored Broadside battlesuits weren't able to withstand such power.

I opened up with my Avenger Gatling cannon, firing upon a bunch of Kroot that had taken up residence on the Fire Warriors and were now charging on either their two feet, or weird-looking hounds. Countless Kroot fell, cut apart in swathes by the devastating stream of anti-armor bullets that rend their bodies and reduced them to bloody pulps. The Broadside battlesuits tried to turn their attention to us, but they were vaporized by blinding clouds of plasma that saturated the area like mist.

A Hammerhead gunship fired its railgun at my hulking Knight, but I managed to tank the shot with my ion shield, my machine shuddering as it fought to stabilize itself. Fortunately, there was no damage other than the winking of my ion shield, which didn't take long to recover. The Onager Dunecrawlers fired back, their neutron lasers taking out a column of hovering Hammerhead gunships, but the rest managed to jink and evade the attacks. They weren't so lucky as the Gatling rocket launchers on the Icarus arrays locked on to them, ignoring the distorting images that the gunships' disruption pods put out and slamming into the desperately jinking gunships. The first few missiles failed to do any damage, but the accumulated bombardment caused the armor to buckle and eventually many of them blew up.

The Skitarii Rangers had already reached within range long ago, and had set up firing positions on cliffs, outcrops of rock and sand, pouring a steady rain of fire from their Galvanic rifles into the milling masses of Fire Warriors and Kroot. The Fire Warriors retaliated with a volley from their pulse rifles, but the energy blasts did little to the Rangers' Skitarii warplate. The Kroot charged forward, caring little for their fallen comrades and trampling upon those who had died, only to be hosed down by the merciless bombardment from the Skitarii Vanguard's radium carbines.

The Vanguard had taken up the vanguard, and their highly irradiated figures stomped onward relentlessly, facing the frenzied charge of the Kroot with cold steel and radioactive rounds, pumping the shots of both radium carbines and plasma calivers into the berserk melee warriors and stopping them dead in their tracks. The momentum of the charge was halted by the sheer toxicity and power of the Vanguard's advanced weaponry, and even the Fire Warriors behind began to feel the poisoning effects as the cybernetic warriors drew ever closer.

"Caution. Incoming aerial attack."

Stroika warned me over the vox. Shortly after his words, a screech overhead told me that the Tau fighters were coming. Formations of Sun Shark Bombers and Razorshark Strike Fighters screamed above as they fired missiles into our ranks in an attempt to take us out. The missiles were surprisingly weak, dealing little to no damage against the heavily armored Leman Russ Executioners and Knights, while the Onager Dunecrawlers were protected by their shimmering emanatus force fields, which were further amplified as the surrounding walkers' shields overlapped to provide maximum protection.

The Onager Dunecrawlers with Icarus array opened up, instantly shredding the bombers and fighters with swarms of missiles, rockets and autocannon rounds. In mere seconds, hundreds of xenos aircraft were ripped apart in the sky, reduced to explosions, broken metal and falling debris, turning the heavens into a flaming hell.

"This is too easy!" Yamada laughed as he waded through the broken bodies of Kroot and Fire Warriors, continuing to fire streams of Avenger rounds into the diminishing ranks of Tau.

He just had to jinx us.

The next second, one of the Leman Russ Executioners in the rear blew up.

"Crisis battlesuits!" A sergeant from the back yelled as he attempted to swing his Executioner around to face the new threat. A few squads of blue Crisis battlesuits had jumped to our back and were gleefully pouring into the vulnerable rear armor of the Executioner tanks with their fusion blasters.

"We should help them..." I began, only for another explosion to rock me. Blinking, I glanced at another pict-screen, watching in horror as a squad of Skitarii Vanguard were blown up, turning into shrapnel and disembodied metal limbs and heads, their red cloaks ripped into shreds as they flew about. Through the smoke, I watched in horror as a trio of Riptide battlesuits emerged, their ion accelerators firing unceasingly into massed ranks of Skitarii and slaughtering them with high-energy streams. Squads of Vanguard were vaporized as the Riptide battlesuits swept their cannons over the advancing armies, washing them with destructive energies.

I could see Stroika coolly organizing a retreat, his cold mask hiding any emotion he might have felt over losing so much men. Knowing the Skitarii, however, he probably felt little more than nothing. The Ironstrider Ballistarii turned away from the Hammerhead gunships and Sky Ray missile defense gunships that they were originally targeting and fired with their twin-linked lascannons, but the ruby energy beams merely slashed at the Riptide battlesuits' shields, unable to do much damage.

"That's our cue," I said to Yamada and Suzuki as I urged my Knight forward, turning my rapid-fire battle cannon and Avenger Gatling cannon on the trio of Riptide battlesuits. The blue Tau shrugged off the massive rounds with astonishing ease, their shields rippling as the projectiles impacted against them. While I turned to face them, a triplet of Crisis battlesuits seized the opportunity to jump right behind my metal steed, opening up their fusion blasters on what they thought was my vulnerable rear.

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I flicked my ion shield on and switched it to my back. The Emperor, in all His merciful grace, must be watching out for me and rolling fours and above, because my ion shield held despite the close range fire from the melta-type fusion blasters that were known to blow holes in even the heavily armored Leman Russ tanks.

The Riptide battlesuits responded with fire of their own, their ion accelerators arcing devastating streams of energy against my Knight. Fortunately, most of the blasts dispersed harmlessly against my heavily armored front, unable to deal any damage, and I approached, continuing my lethal hail of fire. Unfortunately, one of the energy blasts from a Riptide battlesuit's ion accelerator sent my Knight stagger, scoring a gouging hole in the front carapace of my Knight. The God of Greater Good, or whatever false deity or the Emperor equivalent that the Tau worshipped, must have rolled a lucky six to deal such a glancing blow to my suit.

"I wish I have the Mark of the Omnissiah right now," I mumbled grumpily as I glanced at the flashing pict-screens that showed me the extent of the damage to my machine. Unfortunately, as I wasn't a Daimyo, I wasn't considered a "character" and thus I wasn't allowed to take devices or the so-called Heirlooms of Knightly Houses. It was utter discrimination, but I wasn't high-ranked enough to argue against it.

Having It Will Not Die would be incredibly useful right now...well, I had to just work with what I had.

I continued spraying the trio of Riptide battlesuits with devastating streams of bullets, and my persistence was finally rewarded as the sheer volume of firepower that I poured out tore through one of their shields, causing the battlesuit to buckle and shudder violently as the armor-piercing rounds penetrated it. Sparks fell as it fell to its knees, smoke and electricity crackling around its dying form.

I showed no mercy, targeting it to finish it off because I knew how deadly a deceptively downed enemy could be, rising to strike at me when I least expected it. Besides, I knew the other two would be taken care of soon enough. The remaining two Riptide battlesuits continued to ping my Knight with their highly powered energy blasts, and one of them even overcharged it to send my Knight staggering back, my front armor blackened and smoldering from the incredible heat.

Damn it! That's another hull point gone! Four more hits like that and I would probably go out in a catastrophic explosion!

Fortunately for me, the Crisis battlesuits that stung me in the rear with their fusion blasters found themselves melted into slag as a Leman Russ Executioner caught them in the open with a lucky shot, vaporizing the team of three with a blast of plasma. At least that was one worry down.

Gritting my teeth, I proceeded forward, continuing to rain down shells and projectiles on the offending Riptide battlesuits. As the Riptide battlesuits continued to batter me with their ion accelerators, the twin-linked plasma rifles atop their shoulder pods useless because they couldn't penetrate my AV 13 front armor (strength 6 - hah! If they had Imperial plasma weapons, they had a one in six chance of dealing a glancing blow, much better than the absolutely zero chance they had now!), they failed to realize that I was but a diversion.

The real threat emerged from the sides.

Yamada and Suzuki came from opposite sides, charging the stunned and confused Riptide battlesuits in an outflanking maneuver. As the Riptide battlesuits struggled to turn around to face the new danger, they were too late. Knowing just how pathetic they were at melee, both remaining Riptide battlesuits engaged their thrusters and tried to jump away, only to find themselves cornered, right at the edge of their side of the table, so to speak. Like fish in a barrel, they were helpless and caught by the fast-moving Knights. Resigned to their fates, the Riptide battlesuits swung their ion accelerators at the Knights to smash them, only to be struck back by Hammer of Wrath. Both Knights drove their reaper chainswords into the gut or head of the giant battlesuits and tore through them easily, as if the armor was made of paper. The pilots in the suits were probably cut into pieces as the two Knights ravaged the huge suits with their deadly melee weapons, dismembering the colossal machines into pieces.

With their strongest and most elite units defeated, the blue Tau forces fell into disarray, allowing themselves to be slaughtered by the ruthless fire of the Skitarii Vanguard and Rangers. Those who still had their wits about them retreated into the fortress that served as their base, the Devilfish transports hovering as quickly as they could while under fire. The remaining Fire Warriors and Kroot ran on foot, with most of their number cut down as we mercilessly shot them in the back. The Crisis teams fared better, their jump jets and agility allowing them to weave through the hot rain of plasma and bullets, and their speed enabling them to reach safety faster than their less esteemed comrades.

Less than one-tenth of the blue Tau army made it back to their base. We continued to blast the formidable fortress with neutron lasers and plasma blasts, _The Emperor's Wrath_ adding to the onslaught with its magma cannon, but the fortification held strong. Tau forces responded by firing through fire-points or windows, but at this distance they could do little more than throw rocks at our heavily armored front.

"Commander O'Shovah?" I asked, opening up a channel to the commander of the Farsight Enclaves. Our assault on the blue Tau army had allowed the Farsight Enclaves to close in without suffering too many casualties. While the long-range firepower such as the Hammerhead gunship and Broadside battlesuits were left behind, the jump-jet infantry such as Crisis suits and even the Riptide battlesuits were able to make it all the way here.

"Ah, Captain Tanaka. Thank you very much. We have managed to drive the Tau Empire expeditionary force back to their base. I suppose it will now turn into a long, drawn-out siege affair."

"About that...would you like us to open up the fortification for you?"

"Are you able to do that?" O'Shovah sounded astonished at my offer. I didn't blame him. The combined firepower from the Leman Russ Executioners, _The Emperor's Wrath_ and Onager Dunecrawlers only singed the fortification, but it would take a long period of sustained firing to bring it down eventually. The Leman Russ Executioners had stopped, knowing their efforts were futile (strength 7 against an AV15?), but the Onager Dunecrawlers continued pounding away with their neutron lasers, backed up by _The Emperor's Wrath_. The magma cannon was powerful enough to penetrate the void shields of a Titan, so it shouldn't take long before we breached the walls.

Still...there was an easier method.

"Yes. Lieutenant Yamada, Lieutenant Suzuki, if you please."

The bombardment from the Skitarii and Imperial Guard forces ceased as the two Imperial Knights loped toward the wall. The Knight Warden and Knight Paladin drove their Reaper chainswords into the wall and sawed through it, causing the heavily armored fortification to crumble and collapsed. I watched in satisfaction as Fire Warriors and Crisis battlesuits fell from disintegrating floors, only to be buried by tumbling rubble.

After opening up a wide, ragged maw in the fortification, the two Knights stepped back to allow the Skitarii legions to flood the fortification, filling whatever Tau resistance that was left with radioactive rounds and plasma spheres.

"There you go," I said gleefully, savoring O'Shovah's awe as the Commander of the Farsight Enclaves stared at the scene of destruction, stupefied. "The fortress is all yours, Commander O'Shovah."

Recovering from his shock, O'Shovah immediately dispatched his Crisis battlesuits to invade the fortress, reinforcing the assaulting Skitarii and overrunning the last bastion of the Tau Empire.


	3. 0011

0011

Tech-Priest Dominus Sigmar proceeded through the ruins of the munitions factory, detachedly interested at how his enemies had deployed themselves. Apparently, after capturing the factory, the blue Tau army had left a skeleton crew here while dispatching the bulk of their forces back into the base northeast.

From the noospheric feeds, Sigmar could see that the battle at the Tau base had already been won. The Tau forces were in full retreat, with both the Imperial military and Farsight Enclaves cornering them in their supposedly formidable fortress. The Skitarii Alpha that Sigmar had relinquished command to, Raiji 44-Stroika, was leading his Vanguard and Rangers into the gaping chasm of the fortress, but already inside the building were squads of Sicarian Infiltrators and Ruststalkers, the deadly cybernetic assassins more suited for combat in such close quarters than the gun-wielding Skitarii soldiers.

 _Well, it's my turn to produce results_.

Sigmar felt neither pride nor a sense of rivalry; the only emotions in his mind were that of determination and a desire to produce results. Rivalry was an unnecessary human emotion that led units and leaders to become reckless and make mistakes. Every unit, every warrior and every servitor in the Mechanicus was a cog, all of them working together harmoniously to obtain the best possible product. Rivalry would only get in the way of such harmony and destroy the tenuous links of cooperation that the servants of the Omnissiah had. Already Sigmar could see fissures between the high-ranking Magos of the Mechanicus, with the Fabricator General of Draconis III often in conflict with the Fabricator Generals of other forge worlds. Never mind between forge worlds, it was not strange for the Magos of Draconis III to have different priorities - the ambitious Fabricator Locum, for example, often sought to stifle the independence of Archmagos Styrimidon, the leading Explorator of Draconis III.

As the Tech-Priest Dominus approached the factory, his sensors indicated to him that there were little more than two squads of Fire Warriors in the building, and a few accompanying Crisis battlesuits and Broadside battlesuits. There was little in the way of the resistance, and Magos Sigmar calculated a ninety-seven point eight five percent probability of crushing the xenos occupiers. The rest were Earth-caste Tau running around and trying to start up the factory to churn out plasma weapons, but unlike the Farsight Enclaves whose Earth caste piloted Riptide battlesuits, these were non-combatants.

The moment Magos Sigmar invaded the factory, they would be sure to flee. They posed no significant threat.

The battle servitors, two clades of Kataphron Destroyers, moved up first, separating into a clade equipped with plasma culverins and a clade armed with heavy grav-cannons. As they were expendable, Sigmar sent them into the factory first.

A high-pitched volley crashed into the wall right next to the lead Kataphron Destroyer, chipping the paint off the crumbling wall and reducing it to rubble. The heavy battle servitors halted and retreated behind cover, their simple instincts combined with Sigmar's binaric commands. Spotting the teams of Fire Warriors approaching, Sigmar moved forward determinedly, his neural implants already calculating the range, distance and best possible tactical positions.

Right now it seemed that the Kastelan robot maniple had the longest reach out of all his forces, so Sigmar nodded to his accompanying datasmiths. Two cybernetica datasmiths, Xi-Lomar and Rho-Gox, had been assigned to the three hulking Kastelan robots that towered above them all, with the former holding onto the Protector protocol doctrina wafer and the latter Conqueror doctrina wafer. The default doctrina wafers installed into the robots were the Aegis Protocol, which frankly allowed the Kastelan robots to Feel No Pain no matter how many damaging blows they took.

[Weapons free. Fire when ready.]

[Yes, Archmagos.]

Xi-Lomar responded with a binaric blurt before administering a short but sacred ritual to the machines in his charge. Unlike most forge worlds, Draconis III had shortened their rituals to a mere seconds of prayer for practicality. After all, the rituals would be useless if the enemy shot the tech-priests in the middle of consecrating a weapon.

The Kastelan robots opened up with their heavy phosphor blasters, firing into the squad of Fire Warriors that had taken up position in a high archway overlooking the factory. Only three of them were hit, the burning chemical rounds blasting sizzling holes in their bodies and sending them toppling over like broken dolls. The surviving Fire Warriors looked at each other, lost their nerve, failed their morale check and literally ran off the board, only to plunge into the abyss right behind the plasma munitions factory.

[That was...unexpected.]

[What were you expecting? Their leadership values only amounted to 7.]

[I still don't understand the criteria for calculating leadership values.]

[Acquire that knowledge as soon as possible. They are imperative to understanding an enemy's psychology, unless they happen to be Fearless.]

Xi-Lomar went silent at Sigmar's chiding, which the Magos took as acquiescence.

The second team of Fire Warriors took shelter in a Devilfish that weaved past the wide passage of the factory, taking cover behind behemoth pillars that stood like Titan's legs.

For now, they were too far to do anything, so Sigmar busied himself with the interior of the plasma factory, his augmented eyes recording every detail. The assembly line, the various convoys, and the myriad parts used in the manufacture of xenos plasma weaponry...they were all open to him for study, and he would like to acquire as much firsthand data as he could before the Tau gave him their blueprints, which most likely would be doctored or edited.

Magos Sigmar pulled his cowl forward as the poor illumination of the factory cast darting shadows over the conveyor belts and the components that lay upon them, playing tricks on his optics. The Kastelan robots might have fired upon the first team of Fire Warriors, causing them to run off to their own demise, but the second team of Fire Warriors were approaching in their armored Devilfish, impervious to harm. Sigmar gave a binharic blurt of irritation as he turned to the Kataphron Destroyers at his back. He would very much like to record more footage on the inner workings of a Tau munitions factory this day, but it seemed the Machine God had other work in mind.

"Let the fires of enlightenment rain from thy sacred weaponry!" cried Sigmar to his corpse-faced congregation of plasma servitors, all four of his arms raised to the skies. "Let the heart of Draconis steel thee for battle!"

He turned back, recalibrating his volkite blaster as the APC-sized Devilfish hovered into weapons range, its gun drones spitting fire and having no effect on the heavily armored Kastelan robots. To his exasperation, the Kataphrons behind him still had yet to engage.

"And Omnissiah deliver us from slow-minded glitchwits," Sigmar muttered. "All right, open fire."

The factory lit up with blinding blue energies, and the surface of the Devilfish melted a little. And then the plasma culverins began smoking as they turned red, getting hot and damaging their wielders in the process.

"Oh, for the love of the Omnissiah!" Sigmar threw his mechanical hands up in frustration. Couldn't those plasma weapons work without blowing up in the Machine God's face? Too late he remembered that he had completely forgotten to implement one of the canticles of the Omnissiah. If he had canted the Benediction of Omniscience, the receiving Kataphron Destroyers would have avoided the Gets Hot! results. Well, it mattered little. "This is why we need that xenos plasma technology so badly."

One of the Kataphron Destroyers that were bearing the heavy grav-cannons rocked backward as a railgun slug from the Broadside slammed into it. Markerlights were appearing all over the poor servitors' bodies, marking them out for fire. The next instance, a trio of Stealth suits popped out of nowhere and hammered the three Destroyers with burst cannons. The burst cannons did no damage to the heavily armored battle servitors though, the puny rounds bouncing off their Kataphron demiplates. The third one fared better, blasting them with a more devastating fusion blaster that would have certainly melted a hole through one of them if Sigmar hadn't sent a binharic command for it to pull back. Then he switched back to his flesh-voice for a simpler command.

"Fire!"

Fortunately, unlike the plasma servitors, the heavy grav-cannons had no chance of getting hot. The trio of Kataphron Destroyers retaliated with vicious salvos, the grav-rounds tearing into the armor of the Stealth battlesuits and crumpling the poor wearer inside. Two of them went down, their armored suits crushed like drink cans, while the third fled, disappearing into the surrounding with near perfect camouflage.

"I want to analyze that stealth technology if I can," Sigmar remarked, forgetting to command his Kataphron Destroyers to unleash a trail of blazing promethium with their cognis flamers. Well, the Stealth battlesuit was out of range anyhow, having lost his nerve and fell back. "If we could equip our Skitarii legions with that..."

The Devilfish had swooped in front of a pillar now, disgorging its occupants. The second team of Fire Warriors disembarked, heaving their pulse rifles up to aim at the Legio Cybernetica. This time Sigmar remembered to use the canticles of the Omnissiah, playing the Benediction of Omniscience through his servitors' neural network. The plasma Kataphron Destroyers raised their plasma culverins and unloaded several plasma spheres into the sitting Devilfish without suffering any mishap this time.

The Devilfish buckled, its metallic surface turning red-hot and releasing dangerous fumes. Three Fire Warriors who were too close to the vehicle were caught in the plasma blast, vaporized by the deadly blue balls of high energy.

Meanwhile, Xi-Lomar had directed the three Kastelan robots to fire on the nearest Broadside battlesuit that continued to take potshots o the Mechanicus army's location. The heavily armored battlesuit staggered as the blazing chemical rounds struck him, and for a moment it seemed that he might hold, but the sheer volume of fire overwhelmed his suit's defenses, as well as the shield drone that struggled to protect him. The shield drone was the first to go, its shields failing as the tremendous amount of fire broke through it and destroyed it, leaving the poor Broadside vulnerable to the remaining shots.

The rest, as Sigmar would say, was data.

The annoying Pathfinders continued to mark out the Mechanicus position, but as they posed little threat with their lack of weapons, Sigmar chose to ignore them. Confident of his victory, he was about to direct his troops to advance on the beleaguered Fire Warriors' position, as well as finish off the last, remaining Broadside, but a couple of plasma Kataphron Destroyers exploded behind him. Turning around, stunned, Sigmar almost found himself staring down the barrel of fusion blasters, a duo of Crisis battlesuits somehow getting behind them. All that stood between him and his demise was his last Kataphron Destroyer, and it too was buckling under the weight of fire, unable to withstand the Crisis suits' punishing firepower much longer. In front, one of the heavy grav-cannon servitors that were leading the charge were taken out as well, with another two Crisis battlesuits jumping right in front of them and blasting them pointblank. Added to the voluminous firepower was the Broadside's devastating, long-range railgun, and the lead Kataphron Destroyer finally fell, a tangled mess of burned flesh and shredded metal. Before the remaining two Kataphron Destroyers could launch a counterattack at Sigmar's command, the Crisis battlesuits and their gun drones boosted away to the side. One of them weren't able to escape the vengeful salvo that the remaining Destroyers launched, the gun drone crumpling under the grav rounds and the wearer of the Crisis suit squashed into a bloody pulp within his own armor.

The datasmiths spun around, their gamma pistols barking and scoring a gouging wound on one of the Crisis battlesuits that had attacked the plasma servitors, causing him to stagger. From the looks of it, the blue Crisis battlesuit hiding behind the wounded one seemed to be the Commander, his Crisis suit modified to adopt a slightly different appearance.

Sigmar recognized him as the main threat, and he ordered the Kastelan robots to fire upon the commander.

"Roger that," Xi-Lomar complied as he transmitted his master's orders to the robots in his charge, directing their fire at the new threat behind them. However, the injured Crisis suit threw himself in front of his commander, taking all the hits and wilting away from the tremendous amount of shots. The last few shots pinged against the commander, who stood defiantly against the three behemoths and their tech-priest masters. Xi-Lomar observed the fallen Crisis suit curiously. "Hmm. The deceased might actually be a Crisis Bodyguard whose role is to protect the Crisis Commander."

"Whatever the case, the Crisis Bodyguard is now in a crisis, having failed that role," Sigmar remarked candidly. "He was lucky to be standing between his Commander and all our shots, otherwise he would have failed at least a few of his Look Out, Sir rolls."

To the Mechanicus, there was no greater shame to a servitor or a construct than being unable to fulfill the role it was created for. Not that most of the servitors could feel shame, of course, but there was a seventy-seven point six probability that the xenos might share the same codes and ethics.

Raising his macrostubber, Sigmar loosed a burst of rounds that the wounded Commander somehow shook off. However, Sigmar was not done. Advancing on his faltering foe, he fired his volkite blaster, the shimmering rays cooking the Commander inside his Crisis suit. In just a few seconds, the armor combusted into flames, the Tau Commander letting out a shrill cry as he was incinerated.

The Pathfinders continued to ping them with markerlights, and getting irritated at their antics by now, Sigmar commanded his last, surviving plasma servitor to fire at them. However, the two plasma blasts missed their mark by a lot, reducing a nearby conveyor belt to smoldering metal.

"Why, Omnissiah, why?!" Sigmar moaned dramatically, his arms held up in the sky. "I have yet to finish recording the data of this factory!"

He wasn't given any time to grieve over his blundered command. In front of him, a second heavy grav-cannon servitor exploded as the Crisis battlesuit darted out and peppered it with his shots. Combined with another round from that pesky Broadside that continued to lurk just out of range of the Mechanicus' weapons, the heavy battle servitor was reduced into smoking wreckage and torn circuitry.

More bothered by the insolent Tau units interrupting his anger than the loss of his servitors, Sigmar blandly sent another binaric blurt. Now that the Crisis suit had jumped out into the open, he would learn of his folly. The gun drone that accompanied him went down first, taken apart by a single grav round. The remaining five rounds tore through the Crisis battlesuit, the armor buckling as if squeezed by a giant, invisible hand, and the organic contents of the suit reduced into an oozing bio-paste.

The remaining Fire Warriors and the gun drones of the fuming Devilfish let loose whatever rounds they had, but the pathetic projectiles of their pulse rifles and pulse carbines did nothing against the monstrous Kastelan robots' ceramite armor. Xi-Lomar responded without Sigmar needing to issue any orders, directing a phosphor rain of destructive chemical rounds on their position, reducing the already damaged hover craft into shredded metal.

The Fire Warriors emerged from behind the smoking wreck of their vehicle, peppering the Kastelan robots with pulse rounds but having completely no effect at all. On the other side, the Broadside fired another couple of railgun rounds, but Sigmar forced his remaining Kataphron Destroyer back to cover. As the Broadside was out of range, it was senseless to engage him in a shootout. While Sigmar would sacrifice his battle servitor without a second thought, he wasn't going to waste it for nothing when there were no benefits in doing so.

Instead he turned his attention on the firing Fire Warriors.

The final plasma servitor fired again, and this time it scored two direct hits, disintegrating three Pathfinders with superheated clouds of plasma. Sigmar would have smirked, but his highly augmented face was no longer capable of conveying emotions. At least the annoying Pathfinders would be deterred from painting his unit with markerlights from now on. Meanwhile, the Kastelan robots fired upon the hiding Fire Warriors mercilessly, sending five of them sprawling on the ground amidst chunks of concrete and debris, chemical smoke rising from huge holes in their suits. Sigmar didn't allow the remaining survivors to even run. Relying on his sensors, he picked out the last two Fire Warriors in infrared, and with uncanny precision, sniped them with his volkite blaster.

With the last of the offense teams down, the Pathfinders and the remaining Broadside saw no option but to either retreat or surrender. The Pathfinder teams raised their hands and emerged from their positions, their heads bowed in defeat. The Broadside opted to jump down the abyss along with the Fire Warriors who had committed suicide earlier, unable to handle the shame of defeat.

If Sigmar was a tech-priest of any other world, he would not have accepted the Tau's surrender and would have mercilessly gunned them down on the spot. However, the tech-priests of Draconis III knew the disadvantages of pursuing violence when an enemy surrendered. Showing no mercy would have drive the enemy to fight harder and even more desperately, forcing the Mechanicus to waste more time and resources to completely exterminate the threat. Those time and resources were better spent finding new Standard Template Constructs or uncovering xeno technology from the surrendered foe.

The only exceptions were the traitor legions, Tyranids and Orks, monstrous foes who were completely oblivious to the very concept of surrender.

The loss of so many battle servitors meant nothing to Sigmar. They were expendable, and there was no shortage of raw materials back in Draconis III to build new Kataphron Destroyers. In fact, the Kastelan robots were much more valuable than the heavy battle servitors. Sigmar, like every other tech-priest, would expend them with no more thought than a Space Marine who expended his clip of bolter rounds.

Satisfied with the result, Sigmar turned to his accompanying cybernetica datasmiths, wishing that he could smile and almost regretting the removal of his flesh face.

"Just as planned," he said.

* * *

The Skitarii forces that scrambled into the fortification were not the Vanguard and Rangers that had been leading the offensive so far, but the Sicarian Ruststalkers and Infiltrators. Armed with transonic razors and chordclaws, the Ruststalkers were more suited for close combat in such tight confines than the infantry troopers of the Skitarii, their transonic weaponry slicing through Crisis armor and Broadside plating alike, the deadly melee weapons vibrating at a frequency that allowed them to cut through even the most advanced armor at a molecular level.

I couldn't see many Infiltrators, the shadowy assassins always lurking out of sight, but the few I saw proved effective in melee combat. Then again, this was Tau we were talking about here. They might possess overwhelming long-range firepower, but up close they were pathetic in hand-to-hand combat. What few Infiltrators I saw were goading the fleeing Tau into their taser goads and shocking them with tremendous amounts of potential energy.

It was a rout.

"This should mop them up," I said, satisfied. There was no need to force my Knight in there.

"Heads up," Colonel Ikeda called out over the vox, his tense voice calling for caution. "Incoming flyer."

"The Onager Dunecrawlers with Icarus arrays are on it," Raiji 44-Stroika informed him. "But it's a super-heavy flyer. We have identified the target as a Tiger Shark."

"Launch everything you have!" I ordered as I brought my Knight around to face the incoming flyer. By the Emperor, the Tiger Shark was huge, much bigger than the Sun Shark bombers or Razorshark fighters that we had been facing earlier. I wondered if the Icarus arrays on the Onager Dunecrawlers would be able to take them down.

And then unexpected cavalry swooped down right behind the advancing Tiger Shark.

"74th Draconis Battalion, this is the Imperial Navy, Draconis 31st Fleet. Be advised that we're tracking the boogey in the sky with every intention of taking it out."

"31st Fleet, this is 74th Battalion. Please nail the bastard with everything you've got!"

Ikeda almost sounded gleeful. As if responding to his enthusiasm, the squadrons of Vendettas spread out and hammered the rear of the Tiger Shark with their lascannons. Each Vendetta gunship had three lascannons, so three squadrons of three Vendettas meant twenty-seven ruby beams of destruction, with over half of them lancing into the Tiger Shark's soft behind with vicious gusto.

The Vendetta was hailed as the best assault gunships in the Imperium, better than even the revered Stormraven of the stalwart Astartes. With three twin-linked lascannons, and the gunships frequently deployed en masse, they were capable of ripping apart legions of massed enemy aircraft by drowning the sky in devastating laser fire. Unlike the multi-lasers that the Valkyries sported, the Vendetta's trio of lascannons were capable of punching through thick armor with highly forceful beams of focused energy, making them perfect for anti-armor roles.

That was proven almost immediately as the Tiger Shark exploded in midair, unable to withstand the onslaught of lascannon beams. A sinking mass of melted metal and molten slag, the super-heavy aircraft crashed far away from the fortress in an undignified manner, disappearing in a shower of sand.

The defeated Tau seemed to shrink even further, if that was possible.

"All right, let's round them up," I told Alpha Stroika. "Don't kill any enemy who surrenders. Make sure your troops know that, especially the Sicarian Ruststalkers and Infiltrators."

The Ruststalkers were notorious for their murderous tendencies, their psychotic nature enhanced by the cocktail of drugs and chemicals injected into their bodies by their augmetics. Similarly, the Infiltrators had been lobotomized and built from scratch to be cold, uncaring killers who were only interested in death and destruction. Nothing short of an order from the Skitarii Alpha would stop them from indulging in bloodshed and carnage.

"I have already sent the relevant orders," Stroika replied, much to my relief. His voice might be dull and monotonous, but he was an effective leader with an eye for practicality. The Mechanicus of Draconis III saw little use in slaughtering those who had lost the will to fight - rather, it would be detrimental as the survivors would fight even harder when they realized no mercy would be shown. And desperate warriors, particularly ones who were pushed to the brink, were extremely dangerous.

It took a while to consolidate the enemy and claim the fortress, with the Farsight Enclaves being quick to assert their control over it. As I milled around restlessly in my Knight, acting as a silent sentinel standing guard outside the fortress, Stroika came to me with a message.

"My lord Knight, it appears we found something at the bottom of the fortress."

"What is it?"

I leaned back in my Throne Mechanicum, exhausted from the fight and hoping it wasn't anything major. The Skitarii Alpha transmitted a few picts to my machine, allowing me an optical view through the eyes of the Vanguard who made the discovery.

I almost threw up at the sight.

It was an arch, obsidian black and marked with thousands of indecipherable sigils. Yet the very image felt wrong to me somehow, felt corrupted. Just by seeing the monument, I could feel cold fear coiling within my chest, almost as if squeezing the life out of me.

"We have no idea what it is, and neither do the warriors of the Farsight Enclaves." Stroika continued calmly, unaffected by the sight. Whether it was because the mechanical process of making him a Skitarius had removed his emotions and relieved him of fear, or he didn't understand what he was seeing, I had no idea. "I suspect it to be xeno archeotech, and my lord Archmagos Styrimidon agrees with me."

"No," I said, harsher than I intended. "That belongs to the Great Enemy. Get all our forces out of there, and warn the Farsight Enclaves. We are going to obliterate that foul...thing."

"My lord? Are you sure?"

"You don't feel it?" I swallowed, my eyes glued to the pict-screen as I fought the icy fear that wrapped its tendrils around my neck. "It's corrupted. I have seen one of those things before. It's a gateway to the Warp. If you accidentally activate it, daemons and warp-spawn will pour out of it."

"But Archmagos Styrimidon insists that we preserve the site for further study..."

"Tell Archmagos Styrimidon that he can shove his orders up his mechadendrite ass...unless he wants a daemonic incursion and the Ordo Malleus declaring Exterminatus on us. I will take all responsibility. Give the order to pull back, then fire upon that thing with every neutron laser we have."

Stroika hesitated for a moment. "Very well, sir."

At that moment, either one of the Vanguard or one of the red Tau from the Farsight Enclaves accidentally tripped over something. I didn't see it clearly, but I could see the arch glowing and coming to life, the space captured within its foul curvature warping and spiraling. Red, tainted energies crackled and danced around the center, whirling into an insidious maelstrom. A single red appendage, tipped with black claws, emerged from the vortex, and the hysterical laughter of something inhuman filled all the vox channels.

As the shrill laughter resounded throughout my machine's systems, the corrupted voice causing me to wince and instinctively cover my ears, even more hideous appendages rose out of the raging maelstrom.

"Throne save us all," I whispered.

And then all hell broke loose.


	4. 0100

0100

The first few daemons that emerged from the vortex were lean, scaly creatures with razor-tipped talons, their crimson bodies emanating a bloody hue that seemed to bathe the area in murderous rage. Howling filled the air, the shrill noise sending my teeth chattering and ears cringing despite my ample protection in the Throne Mechanicum.

My pict screens began turning fuzzy, with grey, grainy textures overlapping with my visuals. I tapped the screens feverishly, forcing them to stabilize and for a moment I paused at the unbelievable sight. The Bloodletter daemons that were pouring out of the maelstrom were relatively few in number, and they were draped in what looked like chains. Heavy metal chains coiled around their necks and bodies in a suffocating manner, weighing them down, but in no way reducing their bloodlust.

"Fire!" I shouted, finally finding my voice in the chaos. Striding forward in my colossal machine, I led the first barrage, pumping a few battle cannon rounds into the onrushing Bloodletters. "Kill them all!"

The thunderous shots drove the Imperial Guardsmen behind me into action. Leman Russ Executioners roared into life, their Executioner plasma cannons glowing and firing streams of bluish-white superheated energy that vaporized the foul creatures that dared set foot upon our realm.

Even the denizens of the Warp couldn't stand up to the punishing power of a line of Leman Russ tanks. Encouraged by our initial success, the Tau from the Farsight Enclaves fired upon the few daemons that survived, the plasma rifles and burst cannons on their Crisis battlesuits sparking to life and hammering the monsters into bloodied messes.

However, as it was always with Chaos, the first wave was always the smallest.

The next wave was surprisingly, not made out of Bloodletters or other daemons associated with Khorne, but a bunch of Pink Horrors. Unlike the massacred Bloodletters, the Pink Horrors were not chained or restricted. Sneering, mocking and laughing, they strolled out of the maelstrom holding the remnants of chains in their gnarled and twisted appendages that served as hands.

I fired a second salvo, knocking a few Pink Horrors back and shredding them into nothing more than pink flesh. Following my example, the column of Leman Russ Executioners vaporized the armies of Pink Horrors that crawled out of the vortex before they could conjure their psychic energies. Aware of the Pink Horrors' main threat - their potent psyker abilities - we worked on finishing them off before they could cast any psychic spells. Without a Primaris Psyker or any other psykers in our army, we had no way of Denying the Witch if the Great Enemy had a particularly dangerous psychic ability hidden in the back. The Tau, too bereft of psychic abilities, joined in, as did the Adeptus Mechanicus who completely avoided psychic abilities altogether, focusing on the mechanical augmentics rather than the organic potential of biological bodies.

I frowned as I surveyed the dying Pink Horrors that continued to stream out endlessly, their chilling laughter ringing disturbingly in my Throne Mechanicum. I had heard from friends inside the Ordo Malleus that among the so-called four Chaos gods, Khorne the Blood God or Lord of Skulls and Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways were openly hostile toward each other. That probably explained why the Pink Horrors were gleefully holding the unfortunate and now very dead Bloodletters on a leash. Segments of both factions challenged each other and Tzeentch's forces had obviously won out.

And then a Lord of Change, a twisted, bird-like monstrosity with wings and a staff, soared out of the raging storm of warp energies, its staff crackling with warp charges. Raising the wizened, gnarled weapon, the Lord of Change fired a stream of lightning into a bunch of blue Fire Warriors that remained loyal to the Tau Empire, reducing them into mere wisps of smoke.

The red Crisis battlesuits of the Farsight Enclaves stared at each other for a moment before all engaging their jump jets and firing their thrusters to avoid the Lord of Change's wicked warp spells. Lightning, fire and even a sonic shriek burst through the air, roasting the reinforced ferrocrete that made up the fortress we recently captured.

As the Imperial forces engaged the Pink Horrors, several Heralds of Tzeentch emerged, their paws holding onto chains that were wrapped around unfortunate Flesh Hounds of Khorne. The Flesh Hounds didn't seem all that uncomfortable, though, their slavering jaws snapping for blood, their eyes more focused on the fresh meat before them than anything else. Screamers of Tzeentch screamed from the vortex, the flying monsters sailing through the air to scream down on us. Fortunately, the majority of them were shot down by volleys of rockets, missiles and autocannons by awaiting Onager Dunecrawlers with Icarus Array.

As the Flesh Hounds bounded toward us, the Skitarii met them with cold steel and crackling energy weapons. Devastating blasts from arc rifles and superheated spheres from plasma calivers launched from the massed ranks of heavily augmented warriors, their omnispexes and other targeting devices aiding them - as well as the doctrina imperatives - in ensuring their hits land true. The Flesh Hounds fell as huge chunks of them were blown out, the pitiful creatures being trampled by their ravenous brethren from behind. At the back of them all, the Heralds of Tzeentch crackled, obviously enjoying the demise of their bitter foes.

Well, I wasn't going to let them enjoy themselves for much longer. Reaching for my vox, I sent a message to Colonel Ikeda.

"Sir, if you don't mind, target all the Heralds of Tzeentch at the back."

"Huh? Heralds of what?"

Oh, I forgot. The Ordo Malleus had kept the division of Chaos into four significant factions a closely guarded secret, and the average Guardsmen certainly had no idea what the different types of daemons were. Only an expert trained by the Ordo Malleus would, and those specialists usually went around with the supposedly non-existent Grey Knights, serving as Daemon Hunters.

"The pink dudes at the back, floating on discs. Um, holding books and daggers and stuff. Hit them with everything you got, I think they're running the show."

"Heh. Sure thing."

As the Skitarii engaged the Pink Horrors and Flesh Hounds, the Vanguard and Rangers relying on their radium carbines and galvanic rifles to mow the approaching charges down, supported by the heavy firepower of Onager Dunecrawlers with neutron lasers and Ironstrider Ballistarii with cognis lascannons, the Leman Russ Executioners fired as one. A plasma bombardment grandly orchestrated by the commanding officer arced across the killing field, vaporizing almost the entire group of Heralds. Moving in, Yamada finished off the remnants with his high volume of fire, the Avenger Gatling cannon busily spinning as it unloaded high caliber rounds into the survivors.

For now, the daemons were gone. Turning around, I saw the red Broadside battlesuits from the Farsight Enclaves targeting the flying Lord of Change with their high-yield missile pods, their velocity trackers locking onto the swooping monstrosity and forcing it to jink.

Snarling now, the Lord of Change yanked his staff back, materializing a large chain that stretched all the way to the swirling vortex. Another pull, and something colossal rolled out of the maelstrom.

I almost passed out.

It was a daemon engine so vast it towered over even my Knight Crusader and stretched to fill almost the entirety of the fortress's wide basement. If I recalled, the name given to such classes of daemon engines were Lord of Skulls, named after their patron, the Blood God Khorne. Like the other servants of Khorne, this one was chained, ruthlessly compelled into obedience by the cackling Lord of Change that soared above us now. With its space and flight restricted by the sheer size of the colossal daemon engine, the Lord of Change gently urged its charge to point its daemonforged cannon upward. A single blast, and the whole ceiling literally disappeared, leaving nothing but sizzling edges where the fortress used to be.

Suzuki was the first to snap out of his stupor, leading his lumbering Knight in a charge at the towering monstrosity. His battle cannon barked, assailing the daemon engine with heavy rounds and driving it back, and he drew his reaper chainsword to slice through the heavy armor.

Bellowing in both fury and what seemed like pain, the Lord of Skulls peeled away, firing its monstrous cannon at Suzuki. Suzuki's Knight Paladin withstood the pointblank salvo, his ion shield sizzling but holding, and he continued to rake the creature with his reaper chainsword. Even as the two super-heavy class engines fought in a desperate melee, more daemons poured out of the vortex, finding a more open space in the crumbling ruins of the fortress than before.

"Direct your fire on the smaller forces before supporting Sir Suzuki," Raiji 44-Stroika ordered, his mechanical voice even and unchanged despite the encroaching chaos. The Skitarii under his command opened up a barrage of energy shots on the rushing daemons, taking most of them down with calm and organized fire. However, as the daemons that managed to survive the opening salvo closed in on the unmoving ranks of the Skitarii Vanguard and Rangers, Stroika continued with his orders without a hint of panic. "Princeps Rho-Mannu, provide Sicarian support."

"My pleasure. The Omnissiah awaits." Mannu sounded gleeful as his Sicarians pounced on the beleaguered daemons from every angle. Transonic weaponry cleaved through daemon hides as if they were nothing more than air, and chordclaws disassembled the warp-spawn easily at a molecular level. "I love my job!"

I joined in, helping with whatever I could. Even as I fired a volley of high powered rounds from my Avenger Gatling cannon and heavy stubbers, I suddenly heard a heavy metal pop song drift from all my vox channels.

"Yeah, oh yeah! The Omnissiah is the man! He brings on the death! We'll kill because we can!"

The Draconis version of psalms praising the Machine God, huh. How very typical.

However, the daemons were obviously not listening to the same music. Holding their heads as the Sicarian Infiltrators popped out of nowhere to goad them with taser goads, they fell into disarray, their senses distorted and splitting headaches powerful enough to tear apart their skulls pounding their brains mercilessly. Oh, so this was the Infiltrators' Neurostatic Aura that I had heard so much about. I didn't think it would actually be this potent. Fortunately, whatever screaming noise the Great Enemy was hearing had been converted into soothing psalms for us.

Um, or maybe they were motivating and hip psalms.

As we cleared the next wave of the daemons, with the help of the Farsight Enclaves' contingent of Crisis battlesuits, the battle between super-heavies took a turn for the worse. Now that the Lord of Skulls had fully focused its attention on Suzuki, it was dealing more damage to his smoking machine, cleaving through the adamantine armor with its destroyer-class cleaver. Suzuki's Knight Paladin buckled as he fought to evade the swift, deadly strokes, and his attempt to counter with his reaper chainsword ended in failure. In one precise move, the Lord of Skulls dismembered the luckless Knight, the butcher weapon shearing through the arm's metal and sending it crashing onto the ground.

"Suzuki! Retreat!" I yelled as I moved my Knight around at an angle, stomping on rubble and trying to get a clear shot. I fired a few rounds from my Avenger Gatling cannon as well as three rockets from my Stormspear rocket pods, the missiles landing heavily on the daemon engine and sending it faltering. Yamada had joined in the barrage, his Avenger Gatling cannon also stitching wounds across the Lord of Skulls' battered body. "Now!"

Suzuki limped away reluctantly, sparks flying from his wounded machine. For a moment I thought he would make it, but the daemon engine of Khorne was not so forgiving.

Shrugging off my shots, the Lord of Skulls lunged forward and plunged its cleaver right into the torso of Suzuki's Knight, the daemonic weapon piercing the core - a nexus of wires and reactors that powered the heavily armored suit. For a moment I froze, my eyes fixed on Suzuki's impaled metal steed, and then my mind kicked back in.

"Everyone get down!"

My warning was not for naught. Barely a few seconds later, Suzuki's Knight went critical, the reactor blowing sky-high and enveloping both him and his killer in a white-hot cloud of billowing plasma. Despite sending my ion shield to the front, I found myself knocked back. Fortunately, I had positioned my machine in a way to take the brunt of the catastrophic explosion so that my Draconis and Sktiarii allies wouldn't be caught. My towering form crashed just several meters away from the divisions of Vanguard and Rangers who had gone to ground to take cover from the devastating explosion, the Sicarians hopefully having disappeared the moment Suzuki's ride went critical, and the Leman Russ Executioners buckled from the impact, their heavy front armor thankfully weathering the shockwave without much damage.

A few dozen meters away, Yamada also stumbled back, his machine smoking and his ion shield giving out. Fortunately, he didn't suffer much other than a few seared circuits, and his Knight was still largely operable.

"Everyone all right?" I asked. Glancing around at my blinking pict-screens, I could see that the Imperial forces were largely all right, with miraculously no casualties. The Farsight Enclaves fared a little worse, with a few of the Crisis battlesuits heavily damaged. The others were helping the wounded Tau, and having no knowledge of xenos physiology to offer anything of help, I left the injured to them. I was bemused when I saw the already decimated blue Tau Empire forces get reduced further by the explosion, with most of the surviving Fire Warriors killed in the explosion. The apocalyptic blast must have scattered in their direction, huh.

"My lord, it's not over yet."

Stroika warned me, a bit futile on his part as I was still unable to get my fallen Knight upright. I was going to need a while. I appreciated the warning though, because I could see the smoking Lord of Skulls, the majority of the daemon engine almost falling apart from the devastating damage the catastrophic explosion inflicted on it, rolling slowly through the soot.

"It's on its last legs. Take it out!"

It wasn't me but Ikeda who responded, and the Leman Russ Executioners blew the daemon engine up with the fury of miniature suns, the plasma bombardment literally vaporizing chunks of the rusted and torn metal armor. The Onager Dunecrawlers joined in, their neutron lasers disintegrating the remnants of the Lord of Skulls, and in a few seconds of the furious barrage of destructive energies, the colossal daemon engine was no more.

"Lord Styrimidon would like to have a few pieces of the super-heavy class intact, though," Stroika remarked regretfully, a tint of wryness in his otherwise monotonous voice. "Unfortunately the situation does not permit it."

"Yeah, you tell him that."

Sighing, I forced my Knight up, the slow and cumbersome machine finally willing to rise to its two legs. As I stood up, I caught sight of the Lord of Change diving in our direction, laughing hysterically as warp energies charged around it.

"Emperor's ba..."

Before I could finish the curse, the Lord of Change unleashed an onslaught of psychic blasts on us. A couple of the Onager Dunecrawlers were flipped over, the spidery tanks sent rolling about, and the tanks shuddered heavily as they were stripped of their hull points. Several tank crews were forced to bail out before their Leman Russ Executioners blew up in clouds of hot bluish-white vapor, their plasma weapons unable to withstand any more punishment.

"My tank!" one of the sergeants wailed. "Emperor's bowels! I just received a new tank the last cycle! How am I going to explain to the Munitorum?!"

"I'll put in a good word for you," I assured him. "And Colonel Ikeda will see that you and everyone else get your tanks replaced. We all did good out here today."

I just hoped the Inquisition didn't learn of the daemonic incursion and decide to purge us all. That would suck. I mean, after surviving all this chaos and murderous daemons just to be killed by someone from our own side? It wasn't just fair!

And the Emperor was supposed to be fair and just. Unfortunately, most of his servants failed to share those traits.

I wasn't given much time to whine on that, though.

The Lord of Change swooped down on us again, getting ready to fire another psychic blast to topple us over. However, before it could fire off another wave of cursed warp energies, several volleys of rounds coated in yellow chemicals slammed into its body, sending it crashing into the ground.

"Missed me?"

If his face wasn't so heavily augmented and replaced by metal masks and scopes, I would swear by the Emperor that Magos Sigmar was grinning. The Tech-Priest Dominus was leading a maniple of Kastelan robots into our position, their heavy phosphor blasters blazing as they hammered the fallen Lord of Change with their cognis rounds. One of the Cybernetica Datasmiths that were responsible for the Kastelan robots was leading the charge, his gamma pistol barking. From his attire I could see that he was wearing the Raiment of the Technomartyr, a baroque suit of artificer armor that contained dozens of machine spirits that buzzed inside its confines. From what I knew, these spirits swarmed out of the armor to dwell inside both the datasmiths and Kastelan robots' weapons, turning them into cognis weapons.

And cognis weapons made good anti-air weapons in a pinch, especially when the Onager Dunecrawlers with Icarus arrays had been sent toppling and confused by the Lord of Change's psychic attack from earlier.

Sigmar strode over to the fallen Lord of Change, raising his power axe and cleaving a huge chunk of flesh away from the abomination.

"The Omnissiah dispels you," he declared grandly. The Lord of Change raised its bird-like head weakly to chortle at the Tech-Priest Dominus' grandeur.

"Asmodai."

Sigmar froze for a second.

"What about Asmodai?"

The Lord of Change grinned, or at least it tried to with its ugly beak.

"The answers you seek lie within."

And then the daemonic entity exploded into wisps of warp energy, disappearing from the material realm entirely. At the same time, the vortex shut down and the monolith crumbled, signaling the end of the grueling skirmish with a minor daemonic force.

"What was that about?" I asked Sigmar as I forced my Knight over.

The magos shrugged, tilting his mechanical head in confusion.

"I have no idea. I suspect the foul thing was talking about our attempts to recover STCs on Asmodai, and he somehow knew about it. He's just confirming what we suspected all along."

"For what reason?"

"Only the Omnissiah knows. Well, the probability of the STCs being on Amodai were a mere twenty-eight point seven percent before, but with the daemon's confirmation it has just jumped to seventy-nine point four. I'm sure the Fabricator-General of Draconis IV will want the Explorator fleet to get there more than ever."

"So...it's a trap. The Lord of Change is deliberately sending us there." I frowned as I tried to consider the implications. "For what reason?"

Sigmar turned to me, his metal mask once again concealing an imaginary grin.

"I guess we'll find out when we go there, eh?"


	5. 0101

0101

I found myself back on Draconis III after the slightly successful campaign. Successful because the Adeptus Mechanicus got what they wanted. Archmagos Styrimidon and his subordinates had gotten their hands on some incredibly advanced Tau technology and they were busy dismantling, analyzing and find ways to replicate it.

After all, the Imperium would benefit tremendously from plasma weapons that did not get hot.

The living had to continue living. After attending the late Lieutenant Suzuki's military funeral and watching his wife cry, I had to return to the office to file a report. The higher-ups were very interested in what happened, particularly the Daimyos of House Yato.

No rest for the weary, huh.

Suzuki's destroyed Knight Paladin was salvaged and brought back to Draconis III for repairs. As I said, the Knights were more valuable than the pilots. Suzuki could be replaced, but the Knights were harder to build. We actually had a STC for our Knights in Draconis III, which the Tech-priests of the forge world Draconis IV unearthed during the early days of our partnership, and brought to their world. I think they also discovered a STC for Titans, specifically a Warlord Titan, and both STCs were zealously guarded by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The Tech-priests of Draconis III however were a greedy and selfish bunch. Despite discovering such precious STCs, they hoarded it for themselves and refused to share the templates with other forge worlds.

It was understandable. The other forge worlds also hoarded their secrets and STCs jealously, refusing to share them with Draconis III or with each other. So to maintain our advantage and not fall behind, we had secrets of our own. This led to the Tech-priests of Draconis IV to monopolize the STC for Knight and allowed House Yato, their affiliated knightly house to flourish as one of the largest knight houses in the Imperium, second only to the revered House Raven. With the STC, the Adeptus Mechanicus could continue producing knights for House Yato. Understandably, it was difficult to manufacture knights and easier to construct tanks so the slow process meant we would take decades to surpass House Raven in terms of numbers.

Well, we already had hundreds of Knights in our house. I sometimes wondered if the Imperium would benefit a lot more if the Tech-priests of Draconis IV shared the STC. The thousands of knights produced from that could turn the tide of war against Chaos and xenos in our favor considerably.

Besides, the STC for House Yato's knights produced vastly different knights from other houses. As it was an ancient STC, the knights manufactured were closer to the knights of the venerated House Taranis on Mars, with the pilots of House Yato not requiring to plug in neural sockets and other painful-sounding procedures that I heard. I doubted the other knightly houses would accept such technology so different from theirs.

"Taihei."

I had just left the office after presenting the report to my superiors when a gentle voice called out to me. Turning around, I saw Kanda Kyoko, the wife of Daimyo Kanda, a respectable officer-daimyo who led a division of Knights on his own. As always, she was surrounded by the other consorts of other daimyos and knight pilots, dressed in the silky, exquisitely decorated kimono that was the traditional clothing of Draconis III. The myriad of colors, designs, decorations and hairstyles made the group of ladies resemble a garden of beautiful flowers.

I bowed my head respectfully to Lady Kanda, conscious of the difference between our ranks. Within knightly houses, the women wielded tremendous power and influence, and that was true the higher the ranks of the woman's husband. For the wife of a daimyo, she was basically his second-in-command.

Lady Kanda graced me with a kind smile, raising her hand to dismiss my deference.

"I hear you have just returned from a difficult campaign. I am very sorry for Sir Suzuki's loss. If I recall, he was a good friend of yours."

Not really, he was merely a subordinate I hardly knew as this was our first mission together. Still, I understood Lady Kanda's attempt to be polite. Holding conversations was like a game, with each party treading cautiously not to offend each other as they sought to achieve their goals and hide their motives. I knew Lady Kanda didn't just call me for casual talk. She had an objective.

I wondered what that was.

Shaking my head, I offered a carefully constructed response.

"Death is common in war, Lady Kanda. I'm sure Lieutenant Suzuki was proud to give his life for the Emperor. He died with honor."

"I see. I am glad to hear that."

Lady Kanda nodded thoughtfully for a moment before looking sad.

"Shizuka, Sir Suzuki's wife, is in a lot of pain now. We will do what we can to comfort her, but I do hope you will be more careful on the battlefield."

"Yes, ma'am."

I wondered where this was leading to, and the answer came pretty quickly. Lady Kanda glanced at her ladies-in-waiting, all fellow consorts of similarly ranked knight pilots, before turning back to me.

"Speaking of which, Taihei. You still haven't picked a consort."

Ah. So this was what this conversation was about. Marriage politics and the like. As I said, the women wielded tremendous power over the knightly houses. They might not wage war and wreak destruction upon their foes with overwhelming firepower and impenetrable armor, but their battle was that of politics, of the mind, of manipulation. Their battlefield was the house itself where enemies were assessed, sidelined and alienated into obscurity, alliances and ties forged with promising allies, families and bloodlines continued - particularly those deemed honorable, high-ranking and useful, political and social objectives achieved and status quo maintained. The men may be the ones who physically fight foes in war, but the women ensured the knightly house survived.

Lady Kanda wanted me to get married, so that I could sire sons who could continue piloting future knights and daughters who would continue to wield and manipulate the house's rankings from behind the scene. No doubt she had a candidate in mind, a sharp and intelligent girl who could make use of her new social status after being married to a relatively honorable knight and set things into motion. What sort of things, I wasn't privy to. The ways of women were mysterious indeed.

However, I wasn't prepared for marriage, not mentally or socially. I had wars to participate in, which often meant I had to be separated from any family I might have had. Yes, the mother would take care of the child I leave behind, but I didn't want him to grow up in an environment without a father figure. I would have considered having a family now if I wasn't a knight, but my vocation brought with it dangers and uncertainty. Two elements that I didn't want disrupting my marriage.

As such, I deflected Lady Kanda's subtle suggestion politely.

"I'm afraid I am in no position to get married now."

"I can select a suitable candidate for you. Why, I believe there are a couple of them you will definitely like. I have already considered your preferences and character..."

Right. This wasn't so much a suggestion but pressurizing me to wed as quickly as possible. I could understand the logic. There was a high chance of me falling as a casualty in the next mission, or the one after that, and it was Lady Kanda's job to ensure I leave behind at least one heir.

However, that didn't mean I was obliged to comply with it. I had more than fulfilled my duty by fighting on the frontlines and slaying the Emperor's enemies. There were billions of other men who could raise their children without fear of dying in the battlefield and leaving them alone with their widowed wives. Even on Draconis III, the population continued to grow, with a good proportion entering the ranks of Imperial Knights or the Draconis Imperial Guard Armored Regiment. A smaller number would join the priesthood of the Adeptus Mechanicus and continue to expand the Martian empire with their arcane technologies and indomitable war machines.

"I'm afraid there is no time for a wedding ceremony or for me to get to know any of them. I'm sorry. It appears that Archmagos Styrimidon is preparing an explorator fleet and he will mobilize my detachment in less than a month. There are a few STCs he found that we must recover as quickly as possible - before the Great Enemy can obtain them."

"I see." Lady Kanda looked a little disappointed, but she didn't press the issue. I was sure she would head over to another bachelor knight and convince him instead. "I wish you luck on your next mission then. Please return safely, and we can continue discussing potential brides."

"I, uh, well, look forward to it."

In actual fact, I didn't, but with the issue so far ahead in future I figured I didn't have to worry unnecessarily. I should handle it when it came to it. For now I should be more concerned in surviving the explorator fleet's mission.

Bowing deeply to bid the ladies farewell, I hastened my steps back toward home. I had met up with my parents the moment I landed on Draconis III, but with the impending mission I felt I should accompany them a lot more before I leave again.

I quickly trotted past the corridor, passing by the countless rooms located in the massive castle the Shogun housed himself in. Apparently half of the rooms in the Shogun's castle were being used as military offices, and the other half were reserved for courtiers, the nobles who serve as knights and their families, politicians and high-ranking guests from other worlds. The Shogun ran a military government, and as with many knight worlds, military affairs were combined with politics. It was in one of these offices that I had to submit my report and testify before high-ranking daimyos who served under the Shogun directly. Right, if I remembered correctly, Daimyo Kanda Keisuke was one of the daimyos listening to my testimony. No wonder his wife was here. She was undoubtedly waiting for her husband to finish his job before they return home together.

However, before I could exit the castle, a sergeant poked his head out of one of the office rooms.

"Ah, Captain Tanaka. There you are. Daimyo Kanda wants to have a word with you."

Oh boy. I just testified in front of him, then spoke to his wife, and now he wanted to see me again? The Kandas just wouldn't give me a break.

Unfortunately, I couldn't complain so I merely nodded to acknowledge the sergeant's message. Turning on my heels, I made the trek to Daimyo Kanda's office. Fortunately, it wasn't far from here, with his office being located separately from the meeting room where they held my testimony.

"Daimyo Kanda, Captain Tanaka reporting."

I knocked on the door before sending out a greeting.

"Ah, Tanaka. There you are. Come in, come in."

I needed no further instructions. I entered the office and bowed respectfully to the daimyo, who was reclining in his huge leather chair and staring at a holo pict-screen.

"I'm sorry to call you back so suddenly, but something's come up. I'm afraid you're the only one suitable for the job."

"Huh? Job?"

"Yes." Daimyo Kanda leaned closer, placing his elbows on the desk in front of him as he looked at me. "Apparently an inquisitor from the Ordo Malleus has arrived on Draconis IV. I need you to serve as our liason with him. You know, the usual high-ranking guest stuff. Bring him around the forge world, show him the manufactoriums, and keep him out of our hair for as long as his business takes him. I suspect he wants to accompany the explorator fleet that Archmagos Styrimidon is organzing, so he's probably here for an inspection."

"Inspection, huh."

"That's right. I assume you know what this means, right?"

I did. The forge world of Draconis IV engaged in some unorthodox method of advancing the Imperium's technology, allowing almost unrestricted freedom in research. Unfortunately, that meant the tech-priests indulged themselves in picking apart and trying to replicate or integrate xenos technology into ours with a zeal matched only by the tech-priests of Stygies VIII. That was something the Inquisition tended to be uncomfortable with.

So my job was probably to deflect his questions about our unorthodox research and production and to lead him away from the top-secret laboratories and testing sites of Draconis IV's factories.

Swallowing nervously as I felt unease speeding through my body, I bowed again.

"Yes, sir. I understand."

And so I ended up on the next space flight to Draconis IV.

* * *

Inquisitor Lector Rex was a remarkable man, a hulking behemoth who towered over me by at least thirty centimeters, making him at least two meters tall. I had seen in the data provided by pict-screens that he was usually clad in Terminator armor, wielding a Nemesis Daemon Hammer and firing a wrist-mounted storm bolter stocked with psybolt ammunition. Even without his Terminator armor, also known as Tactical Dreadnought Armor, Inquisitor Rex struck an imposing figure, his bald head and piercing blue eyes reminding me of the intimidating confessors of the Ecclesiarchy. At least he wasn't preaching.

He was accompanied by a single henchman, an acolyte armed with a hot-shot lasgun, a weapon also known as a hellgun. The acolyte was scarier than even his boss, if that was possible, his intense glare burning into me and his finger twitching near the trigger of his souped-up weapon. I noticed he was wearing carapace armor instead of the usual flak armor.

I would have thought he was an inquisitional stormtrooper, but his ballistic skill and weapon skill didn't seem all that impressive. Additionally, he seemed to serve more as an aide, except that he wouldn't have a flask of tanna tea under that armor of his or a trusty meltagun.

"You must be Captain Tanaka?"

Inquisitor Rex spoke in a deep, booming voice that somehow at the same time sounded gentle and assuring. Trying to conceal my shock, I nodded and bowed.

"Tanaka Taihei at your service."

Inquisitor Rex smiled at me and immediately I felt my nerves melt away. This guy was exuding a friendly aura quite unlike his comrades in the Ordo Malleus and his presence was making me comfortable. I did feel a slight prickle in my mind, though, which told me Inquisitor Rex was a psyker. Probably a high-level psyker.

"Inquisitor Rex, I'll be your guide in Draconis IV today. If there's anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask."

"Please, call me Lector. Ah, and this is my aide, Stanley Sturgen. We're here to help, not to inspect or probe, so let's drop the pleasantries and be more frank with each other. I think I will be joining your explorator fleet, so let's establish a good working relationship."

"Yes, sir."

"It's Lector."

At the inquisitor's insistence, I merely nodded and decided against pressing the issue. Despite his claims that this wasn't an inspection, I was obliged to show him around the manufactoriums of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

"This is where you manufacture the Leman Russ tanks, huh?"

The first factory was the tank manufactorium that produced vast numbers of armored vehicles for the Imperial Guard, primarily for the Draconis Armored Regiment, but also for the other regiments spread throughout the Imperium. The overwhelming majority consisted of Leman Russ Executioners, but there were a substantial portion of Leman Russ Battle Tanks and a small amount of Leman Russ Vanquishers.

"So it's true that the forge world of Draconis IV has successfully replicated the technology needed for the Leman Russ Executioner."

"I'm afraid we didn't manage to replicate Ryza's Executioner plasma cannon perfectly. Our Leman Russ Executioners are a lot cheaper to build, but we lack the cooling technology that Ryza possesses, and as such our tanks are unstable and much more prone to blowing up."

"Huh. That explains the larger numbers of Leman Russ Executioners I have seen fielded recently. So they have become a lot cheaper to build, huh."

Lector looked impressed as he glanced the conveyor belts that moved parts of the plasma cannons together. He also glanced at the Leman Russ Battle Tanks before nodding in satisfaction. There was no need to comment on these tanks. The ubiquitous Leman Russ Battle Tanks were easy to make and were fielded in large numbers everywhere, so it wasn't unusual that Draconis IV manufactured so many of them. Lector's gaze finally settled on the Leman Russ Vanquishers and he frowned.

"You can build Leman Russ Vanquishers too?"

I nodded, wondering why he was surprised. Lector rubbed his bald head and pondered.

"I thought the technology for building Vanquisher cannons were lost when the forge world Tigrus was overrun by Orks many millennia ago. I did hear that Gryphonne IV and Stygies VIII succeeded in producing their own versions, but they supposedly have jealously guarded the technology to build the Vanquisher cannons. Well...Gryphonne IV got destroyed, so I think only Stygies VIII was left. Did Draconis IV manage to convince them to...?"

"Unfortunately, no," I quickly corrected Lector. There was no way in hell that forge worlds would ever share their technology with each other. Monopolizing technology was the only way to stay ahead, and no forge world would ever let such an advantage slip by being altruistic enough to share their secrets with others. "The Tech-priests of Draconis IV produced their own version of Vanquisher cannon. I believe the Vanquisher cannons of Gryphonne are much longer so they can generate much greater shell velocity. It's just too bad the forge world got eaten alive by Tyranids, um...I think it was Hive Fleet Leviathan. The Tech-priests of Stygies VIII have cannons that use gun stabilizers and recoil dampeners to guarantee an accurate first shot but subsequent shots suffer after that."

"Ho...you're pretty well versed in this."

"That's because House Yato is affiliated with the Adeptus Mechanicus so we knights are required to study a bit of the Adeptus Mechanicus's history. The priesthood of Draconis IV is of the...what the other forge worlds call the 'new way'. That is, we subscribe to the belief that the Emperor and the Omnissiah are one. The newer forge worlds believe otherwise, but we continue to venerate the God-Emperor because we believe that he is the Omnissiah."

I quickly added the explanation regarding the _new way_ in case Lector felt uncomfortable about speaking to a knightly house affiliated with the Adeptus Mechanicus. In my experience, the Inquisition and other arms of the Imperium were wary of the servants of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the believers of the Omnissiah.

Fortunately, Lector didn't seem all that bothered about Cult Mechanicus and its beliefs, taking more interest in the rows of Leman Russ tanks being manufactured in front of him. He nodded at the half-built Leman Russ Vanquishers.

"So what is different about Draconis IV's Leman Russ Vanquishers?"

"We're much closer to the original Vanquisher cannons manufactured on Tigrus," I explained, trying to dig up the required facts in my memory. The tech-priests and adepts had it easy, they could assess whatever information they wanted through their memory banks and augmented noopshere. "Our Leman Russ Vanquishers use the normal armor penetrating round with normal shell velocity and we usually equip them with lascannons to fit their role as tank hunters. They are stable and do not have to worry about poorer accuracy with subsequent shots like the Leman Russ Vanquishers from Stygies VIII do. But we're still only able to produce very few of them so they are only given to the commanders of each tank squadrons."

"Understandably so."

It seemed Lector understood the difficulty of building Leman Russ Vanquishers so he didn't push the issue and we moved on.

Next was the munitions factory where servitors assembled lasguns and plasma guns. Sturgen tensed when he caught sight of Tech-priests and adepts running up and down the manufactorium, carrying as much Tau plasma weaponry and armor as their augmented arms and mechadendrites could muster. Whipping out his hot-shot lasgun, he prepared to fire when Lector stepped in front of him and shoved the barrel of his gun down.

"B...but Lord Inquisitor!" Sturgen protested as he gaped at his boss in shock. "That is heresy! To be in possession of xenos technology in an imperial world..."

"Leave it be."

"Impossible! The imperial creed clearly forbids tampering and research of xenos..."

I wondered how Sturgen knew we were researching xenos technology when all he saw were Tech-priests and adepts ferrying them up and down. Oh. He could see what the Tech-priests of the Artisan order were doing inside vast open complexes of laboratories. The Artisans, which included a Technoarcheologist Magos, were busily dismantling Tau battle-suits and weaponry with great care, Lexico Arcanus from Logi were inputting data into pict-screens and memory banks and some cybersmiths were attempting to build and replicate Tau-Imperial hybrid weapons from the obtained data. It wasn't that the Artisans were deliberately showing off. They weren't used to visitors and so didn't bother hiding whatever they were doing. Besides, if a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus wanted to peek and steal our secrets, walls and rooms were nothing to them.

I watched Lector nervously, wondering how the inquisitor was going to react to a blatant infraction of rules, but fortunately he seemed less bothered about our attempts at fusing xenos technology with imperial weaponry than his henchman. Sturgen was livid, gesturing violently as he argued at pointed at the adepts and menials carrying Tau plasma rifles.

Lector sighed and shook his head before surprising his henchman with a question.

"Stan, have you heard of Ryza?"

"Huh? It's a forge world, isn't it?"

"Yes. It used to be the Imperium's only source of plasma weapons and even the Leman Russ Executioners you saw earlier were originally supplied only by Ryza. That was until Waaagh! Grax and Waaagh! Rarguts, that is. Now, with the Adeptus Mechanicus on that forge world mired in war, the Imperium's supply of plasma weapons have been cut off until the forge world of Draconis IV stepped in to fill the gap. In short, Draconis IV is the Imperium's main supply of plasma weapons and Leman Russ Executioners now."

Stanley was still gaping at his boss while the latter explained it to him. Was the guy really that dense? Then again, he was merely an acolyte. If he was smarter, he wouldn't be serving as a henchman. He would be a real stormtrooper with ballistic skill 4.

"Do you understand what that means?"

"We...we need this forge world...the Imperium relies heavily on Draconis IV for plasma weapons and Leman Russ Executioners..."

"That's right. And they also produce a good number of Titans and Knights. They are an absolutely critical war potential we cannot afford to lose."

So Sturgen understood after all. Phew. At least he wouldn't be shooting the poor adepts and Tech-priests in here.

We moved on, this time to a massive munifactorium several kilometers wide and a hundred meters high. The interior resembled a cavern, filled with giant mechanical parts, servitors, huge machinery that assembled, drilled, lifted and moved the giant components throughout the vast expanse of space, sparks, light and noise flooding the enclosed area.

"This...are they repairing a Titan?"

I smiled at Lector's overawed expression. Seeing him make that reaction was the sole reason why I brought him to this place in the first place. As an aside, Sturgen was also dumbstruck by the amazing spectacle in front of him.

But that wasn't the most impressive thing.

"No. They're building a Titan."

"Huh? How is that possible?"

We actually had a STC for a Warlord Titan that the Adeptus Mechanicus uncovered on Draconis III along with the STC for the knight battle-suits. The Imperial Knight battle-suits, or one-man mini-Titans, were being constructed elsewhere but I wasn't going to share that knowledge with Inquisitor Lector Rex and his henchman.

The Draconis system, House Yato in particular, needed their fair share of secrets in order to remain competitive and stay ahead of the other forge worlds in an increasingly hostile universe filled with betrayals and back-stabbing.

So I said nothing and continued smiling. Lector, who noticed my reticence, took the hint and merely nodded.

"Speaking of which, the _Collegia Titan_ on this forge world..."

"Oh, Draconis IV has its own Titan legion. The _Legio Gojira_. I hear they will be landing the explorator fleet a couple of Titans, which is a relief, considering that we're heading into the Maelstrom that is bound to be filled with colossal daemon engines and maybe even Chaos Titans. The Slaneesh Hell-Knights that took out _Legio Crucius_ were reportedly sighted there."

"I'm glad to hear that. We'll need these guys if we do run into super-heavy daemon engines and Chaos Titans."

"Why are you joining the explorator fleet, anyway?" The question came to my mind when I noticed his use of the word "we". It reinforced what I already knew. Inquisitor Rex was coming with us. From what I saw, he wasn't here to get in our way of claiming the STCs or to keep an eye on us. "Does your reason have anything to do with the daemons in the Maelstrom?"

"You do know that daemons aren't the only thing in the Maelstrom, right?" Lector looked amused. "There are Orks, Eldar pirates and even Traitor Marines like the Red Corsairs living in there. Raiders, pirates and all sort of scum along with those xenos bastards."

"I'm pretty sure the Orks and Eldar raiders would be more of an interest to the Ordo Xenos, not the Ordo Malleus."

"Yeah, well...I heard you're going to Asmodai."

I nodded, wondering what in Asmodai would an inquisitor of the Ordo Maellleus have an interest in. Maybe he was just curious about a planet that bore the same name as a certain Master Interrogator-Chaplain of the Dark Angels.

However, Lector merely smiled mysteriously as he desisted from telling me.

"You'll find out soon enough."

* * *

I was so glad when I left Lector and Sturgen to their own devices and returned to the lush, agricultural world of Draconis III. Unlike Draconis IV where the barren continents were occupied by vast, sprawling complexes of giant manufactoriums and its skies clogged up by smog and industrial pollution, the third planet in the Draconis system had been left untouched, her verdant fields and forests preserved as they were for millions of years. There were a few stretches of land where the forests had given way to urban townscapes, but they weren't as huge or contaminated as the massive cities that had sprung up on the forge world. In the middle of each city was an enormous castle where the daimyos lived in and where the knight battle-suits were stored and maintained by the _Koushou_ , or what the other knightly houses and forge worlds termed as Sacristans.

The koushou were trained by the Adeptus Mechanicus on Draconis IV before returning to Draconis III to repair and maintain our Imperial Knight suits. They were an indispensable existence to House Yato, ensuring that we were able to continue our service to the Emperor and fight on the frontlines of the Imperium.

As for the forests, the predators that hunted there posed no threat to humans. We had long since become the apex predator of Draconis III and even learned to shepherd and rear native cattle, poultry and other farm animals that had existed on the planet, alongside our agricultural technology that saw wide paddy fields, endless rows of crops and huge orchards of fruits. According to history, the first settlers relied on the STC to build defensive exo-suits to fight off predators, the most dangerous of which was only an equivalent of a leopard or saltwater crocodile in Terra, and colonized the planet without any difficulty. After establishing human supremacy on Draconis III, however, the feudal lords, or daimyos, that sprung up as a result of colonization began waging war against each other, an event that was exacerbated by the Age of Strife where the Draconis system was completely cut off from the rest of humanity.

The space shuttle, an Aquila lander, dove into the atmosphere, bringing my appreciation of the glorious, green and refreshing scenery to an abrupt end. It descended steeply into the main continent, heading for the largest metropolis that lay across the eastern coast. My destination was the capital, Edo, a castle-town that had grown from a small settlement near a river bay. The shogun had chosen Edo to be his home and capital, and by sheer coincidence my family had lived there for generations.

Glancing at the growing castle-town, I reminisced about the history. The Warring States period, the era during the Age of Strife where the entirety of Draconis III descended into war, lasted for two hundred years before a single daimyo conquered the whole world with his cunning, intellect and brilliant tactics. Daimyo Yato, as he was known then, established a great alliance before crushing his enemies and uniting the planet under his rule. Taking the title of Shogun, he then ruled over Draconis III while delegating provinces and continents to his allied daimyos, allowing them autonomy in their governance over their respective lands.

In that space of time, the great houses were brought to heel by Daimyo Yato's incredible strategies. The once-glorious House Oda was destroyed, the pilots slaughtered completely and their knight battle-suits plundered by House Yato. The cunning House Tokugawa was defeated in open combat, the survivors swearing loyalty to Daimyo Yato and renouncing their house as a result. The formidable House Kumagawa was slowly driven to despair after a prolonged siege on their fortress-castle for months, and after being starved of resources and supplies, they eventually capitulated.

The proud House of Heiji was brought to their knees when Daimyo Yato led a small force that into their fortress. The castle of Heiji was supposedly impenetrable, for they had a wall of mountains at their back to serve as a barrier. Mistakenly believing their backs to be completely immune to attack, they focused on defending the front. However, Daimyo Yato scouted the mountains for a path that was wide enough and could safely bear the weight of the colossal war-machines of his house and led a tiny contingent of knights through the trail under the cover of the night. Before dawn, his team had reached the back of Heiji's castle and he assaulted them, taking them by surprise and overwhelming the larger number of knights with speed and sheer ferocity.

The formerly dominant House Ashikaga, who had held the most amount of territory and military force then, was destroyed in the famous Battle of Senjouhara, which saw the biggest number of soldiers and knights clash on Draconis III soil in its entire history of colonization. Over a million knights and soldiers slaughtered each other in a bloody battle that tainted the brown earth crimson and once-green grass to seemingly bleed. In a moment of brilliance, Daimyo Yato led his daimyo court in an almost suicidal charge right into the ranks of the commanders and took Daimyo Ashikaga's head in a brutal duel that brought both colossal machines to their knees. The outcome of the battle saw the forces of House Ashikaga broken and defeated, and the survivors too were forced to submit and swear fealty to their new lord.

Apparently there were Titans fighting in the Battle of Senjouhara, towering god-machines that were said to be the ancestors of today's _Legio Gojira_. I didn't know how true that was, but given how the STCs for the Warhound Titan, Reaver Titan and Warlord Titan were unearthed on this very planet, I wouldn't be surprised if they existed. Perhaps they served House Yato once but were all transported to Draconis IV when the Adeptus Mechanicus occupied it as their forge world after the people of Draconis were reunited with the larger Imperium as they spread their conquest to the stars.

Fortunately, we were spared the worst effects of the Horus Heresy as the Imperium only found us after its aftermath. If I remembered correctly, the Imperium only reached the Draconis system in 214, M34, long after the Imperium's worst civil war ended. In any case, the Imperium contacted and negotiated with the then Shogun Yato Yoshiyuki and brought the Draconis system back into its fold. The Adeptus Mechanicus, happy about the resources and rich promethium veins they discovered on Draconis IV, enthusiastically sent Tech-priests and adepts to colonize it and also forge a close relationship with the three main knightly houses of Draconis III. Fortunately, the priesthood from Proximus that settled here subscribed to the so-called _new way_ , which meant we worshipped the Omnissiah as the God-Emperor and so our loyalty was strongly directed to Terra and the Emperor himself rather than at Mars.

The entire line of shoguns had come from the family of Yato for over ten thousand years now, with the daimyos all united under one house. House Yato established its supremacy, subsuming all daimyos under its banner, and requesting the remaining houses to swear allegiance to it. The surviving houses, House Uesugi and House Takeda, acceded easily because they were staunch allies of House Yato, and these three houses became the major knightly houses in Draconis III. The remaining smaller clans eventually merged with the three main houses and after a few millennia there were only three huge houses in Draconis III, all loyal to the Shogun of House Yato.

As the Aquila lander set down on the spaceport, I got ready to disembark, intending to return home and talk to my parents again. I still hadn't informed them of my inclusion in the explorator fleet, but as always they would understand.

And then I would visit my suit and see how _Ryuujin_ was doing. The battered Knight Crusader had seen better days but I was confident that my assigned koushou, Kaneda Kojiro, would see to it that _Ryuujin_ was back to performing at peak efficiency.

Stepping on the green grass that carpeted the area outside the spaceport, I looked up at the azure sky and smiled.

Finally, I was home.


	6. 0110

0110

Time was the same throughout the Imperium of Men.

It made total sense. Especially for the men and women conscripted into various regiments of Imperial Guard from thousands of worlds, time had to be standardized in order to plan and coordinate attack and defense missions together. The units of time were therefore the same throughout the Imperium, allowing officers and commanders to regulate and carefully execute their stratagems to the precise hour or even minute.

However, the days, months and years were different. It was impossible for the Imperium of Man to standardize the days of thousands of worlds. The worlds in a locked orbit, with one side fixed in a position facing the sun and the other in perpetual darkness, could follow the standard days set by Terra, but their months were determined by the orbit of their moons and their years by the length of time their planets took to complete a single orbit around their corresponding suns.

And for those worlds that behaved similarly to Terra, spinning on their axis to grant their residents both day and night, the length of their days and nights varied from Terra. After all, a day (and night) was counted by the planet's complete turn around its axis, and throughout the galaxy there was huge variation in the periods needed for so many planets. As such, imperial worlds were given autonomy and freedom to decide their length of days, months and years, allowing it to differ from Terra.

Draconis III was one such world. Its calendar year was similar to Terra, with one solar year being roughly 360 days and a lunar month divided into 30 days, thus granting us a precise 12 months of 30 days each. Deviations were mitigated by buffers that gave us one leap year every five years, and we had approximately 25 hours per day. Like Terra, Draconis III was the third planet from its star, Eltanin, and so we had very similar calendars.

On the other hand, Draconis IV had different lengths of days, months and years because it was the fourth planet from Eltanin. The further distance meant a longer year, the smaller moons with shorter orbits meant shorter months. A year on Draconis IV was approximately equal to 2 years on Draconis III, or 692 days. On the other hand, a day on Draconis IV was longer than Draconis III, clocking in 678 days according to its own year.

As such, the number of days on Draconis III differed from that of Draconis IV.

Less than a month passed for me on Draconis III while the Adeptus Mechanicus and our Inquisition guests languished on Draconis IV for more than a month. On the other hand, the days felt longer on the forge world so perhaps it felt almost the same. It did take me some time to adjust to the different days on Draconis IV when I returned to it after my almost-one-month leave (that I spent at home) but given how slight the difference felt, it wasn't hard.

As usual, the moment I returned to Draconis IV I was assigned as House Yato's liaison to Inquisitor Lector Rex again. I doubled as a liaison for the Draconis Imperial Guard, which was unusual. Most knightly houses ruled separately from Imperial Guard regiments and they were Battle Brothers rather than part of the same detachment or structure.

However, Draconis III had a long military history where the knights of powerful houses commanded armies of infantry, cavalry and archers, who eventually evolved into today's divisions of infantry (though they are armored infantry and counted as mechanized veterans), armored vehicles and artillery. Actually, we didn't have artillery. The artillery roles were usually taken by Titans, Leman Russ Battle Tanks, Knights Paladin and Knights Crusader. And we had the Leman Russ Vanquishers for long-range anti-vehicle strikes. Our cavalry evolved into modern Leman Russ Executioners that laid siege to heavily fortified positions and literally melt all infantry into molten slag, and the few infantry we had were usually ferried by super-heavy transports like the Doomhammer or placed as tank escorts to screen and protect the Leman Russ Battle Tanks from drop pods and deep-striking anti-tank units.

They used to be transported around by Vendetta gunships, but a few years ago the Emperor decided to half the transport capacity of the Vendetta to six, which meant they were no longer able to carry full infantry squads of ten. Additionally, the Vendetta got a lot more expensive to build, field and maintain than its sister gunship, the Valkyrie. Apparently the emperor did that for the sake of balance because we were kicking the asses of the forces of Chaos in the 42nd millennium and the Vendetta was getting a little overpowered for its cost and capabilities. At least it still had its three twin-linked lascannons that were utterly devastating against both armored vehicles and enemy aircraft.

While the passenger hull could quite clearly fit twelve soldiers, the naval pilots explained that the machine spirits would sodomize any commander who tried to transport the twelve soldiers in the Vendetta. And the spiritual liege who was not the same as our God-Emperor had instructed that half the space in the passenger hull be filled with power cells to charge the trio of lascannons on the Vendetta. Not the spiritual liege who ruined the Grey Knights, particularly introducing the blasphemous rumor about them slaughtering the Sisters of Battle and using their blood as war paint, but the one who made the Tyranids so much easier to slaughter.

Complaints aside, essentially the knights served as commanders and officers in the Imperial Guard regiments, just that we pilot giant battle-suits instead of tanks or gunships. But we were split off into a separate military arm of the Imperial Guard so that we didn't screw up the structure and chain of command and try to lead armored brigades or divisions we had no business of leading, particularly when the hot-headed, power-hungry knight or daimyo possessed no tactical knowledge of how to best use the Imperial Guard troops and tanks.

However, the daimyos and shogun held overall command over the Draconis Imperial Guard, the heavily armored, titanic battle-suits leading the charge, supported by columns of tanks and devastating cannons - even if the tank crews receive orders from the actual Imperial Guard's commanding officer instead of the nobles.

I knocked on Lector's door and opened it when he gave permission. The inquisitor was sitting on the edge of his bed, reading something off a pict-screen.

I glanced at the pict-screen as I stepped inside the room, confused. "What are you reading?"

"Ah, this?" Lector showed me the pict-screen. "These are the Cain archives containing the memoirs of the legendary Commissar Ciaphas Cain. Apparently a colleague of mine from the Ordo Xenos, Amberley Vail, has compiled Commissar Cain's memoirs and added her footnotes."

"Commissar Cain?" My jaw dropped. The highly decorated and revered hero had passed on quite a few decades ago, but his feats and legends forever lived on. Well, some of the holo-movies featuring him were suspect, but as a kid I had been a fan of his stories. "You have his memoirs?"

"Yes, but they're not for public viewing." Lector frowned as he studied my reaction. "You seem overawed."

"I'm a big fan of Commissar Cain! Can I read his memoirs?"

"Hmm. Sure, I can give you a copy. Just make sure you don't pass it or show it to anyone outside the Inquisition. Amberley will skin me alive if she finds out...except that she too has passed on a decade ago. But you'll realize that Commissar Cain makes himself out to be a very different man from what you see in the holo-vids broadcasted throughout the Imperium."

"I don't trust the holo-vids. They idealized his character too much and made him out to be some god-like character. They even have a cult on Tallarn, with Alem Mahat writing the Book of Cain and turning him into a prophet of the Emperor. I read that book, but it was...weird."

"Ha ha, the cults tend to be flamboyant with their words and interpretations." Lector snickered as he switched off the pict-screen and stood up. "Shall we go then?"

The meeting room was spacious with a lot chairs for the high-ranking officers. Obviously I was the lowest-ranking personnel in the room, with the rest of the military staff ranked colonel or higher. A few daimyos from House Yato were also attending the meeting, the Mechanicus needing their permission to acquire a detachment of Imperial Knights. The chief Tech-priests were of course present, particularly Magos Sigmar and Archmagos Styrimidon, who were standing in front of the room and using a massive holo-screen for their presentations.

"As you already know," Styrimidon began, his mechadendrites waving about in the room excitedly. "The probes the Adeptus Mechanicus sent have detected not one but at least three different STCs on the planet Asmodai."

No one was surprised by this, even Lector, who had been briefed about this when he first landed on Draconis IV.

"The Mechanicus will be dispatching an explorator fleet to Asmodai. Of course, I am in overall command, but Magos Sigmar will serve as Magos Militant on the ground. As Tech-priest Dominus, he will lead the Legio Cybernetica and a retinue of battle-servitors to locate and uncover the STCs. The Skitarii battle maniple, led by Alpha Raiji 44-Stroika, will provide backup and augment the Mechanicus's military strength."

Stroika, who was seated next to the human officers of the Imperial Guard, nodded stoically as his name was mentioned.

"We will have every unit of the Skitarii present, including Vanguard, Rangers, the Sicarians, Ironstrider Ballistarii and Onager Dunecrawlers."

The Sydonian Dragoons were notably absent but I didn't point that out as Stroika listed his units because I already knew that the Draconis Skitarii did not use Sydonian Dragoons. They relied more on ranged firepower to shoot their enemies, advancing on their targets and engaging them in medium range. The exceptions were of course the Sicarians, cybernetic assassins that relied on transonic razors, chordclaws and taser goads to cut through their enemies in close range. Despite being classified in a different branch, the Skitarii were practically the same force as the Legio Cybernetica, the two branches working in concert to take out the enemy with overwhelming medium-range firepower and shadowy assassins.

"Thank you," Styrimidon nodded his augmented head, masked by mechanical contraptions and ocular enhancements, at his Skitarii alpha gratefully. He then gestured to a bald man sitting at the edge of the table. "And Princeps Max Maximilus, how about the _Collegia Titanica_?"

Princeps Maximilus smiled and nodded. "There is no problem. We have just built 3 new Titans and are eager to test them out in the field. I'm afraid we can't provide a Warlord Titan, but we do have a new Warlord Titan, the _Bishamonten_ , and two freshly built Warhound Titans, the _Inugami_ and the _Ookami_. _Legio Gojira_ will walk upon Asmodai."

"Once again, thank you, Princeps Maximilus. The Adeptus Mechanicus is forever indebted to your Titan legion."

"No, it's nothing."

"It is definitely not nothing. The awesome firepower of the God-machines will prove vital in our mission." Archmagos Styrimidon insisted. Turning to the human occupants, he bowed his head in a very un-Mechanicus manner. "However, Asmodai is located in the region known as the Maelstrom, which is full of raiders, pilots and hostile xenos. Not to mention some of the Traitor chapters dwell in there, like the Red Corsairs for example."

"I thought Asmodai is located within the Dark Angels chapter."

The joke was out of my mouth before I could stop myself. Lector snorted with laughter but the other humans, both normal and augmented, ignored me. I caught a couple of the daimyos smiling, though. Styrimidon continued as if he didn't hear me.

"That is why we require the immense might of the great knight house, House Yato, and the overwhelming firepower of the Draconis Imperial Guard armored regiment. I fear we do not have enough strength to deal with the enemies present in the sector while we attempt to recover the STCs. As such, I humbly beseech both honorable forces to provide us the support we need."

The request was in no way unreasonable. Archmagos Styrimidon had a point.

Ideally, the Imperial Guard would provide long-ranged fire support from behind. The Imperial Knights excelled in both long-ranged and medium-ranged combat, the Knight Crusader staying back with the Leman Russ Battle Tanks and Leman Russ Vanquisher while the Knight Warden and Knight Paladin and their Leman Russ Executioner escorts plunged into the thick of the enemy alongside the Skitarii and Legio Cybernetica. The frontline knights doubled as melee combatants, their Reaper chainswords able to slice through even the thick adamantine hulls of a Titan and the void shields protecting it. When needed, the Imperial Navy attached to the Imperial Guard could provide aerial support, the Vendetta gunships descending to spew red-hot death from the skies.

However, such support was much required in the war against Chaos. Apparently we managed to somehow survive Abbadon the Despoiler and his 13th Black Crusade, but Cadia was still firmly under the forces of Chaos, with only a single fortress-city left. We did succeed in reclaiming the worlds in the Cadian sector, including Yayor, Ulthor and Dentor.

Furthermore, the knights of House Yato and the might of the Draconis Imperial Guard armored regiments were increasingly needed in the Imperium's defense against the ever-growing threat of the Tyranids, our forces be dispatched to sectors invaded by Hive Fleet Leviathan, Hive Fleet Hydra, Hive Fleet Behemoth and Hive Fleet Kraken. Only Hive Fleet Leviathan remained a united and all-consuming force, but the other hive fleets were broken up into splinter fleets which were easily dealt with...except that it required a substantial portion of the strengths of Houses Yato, Uesugi and Takeda as well as the countless tanks of the Draconis Imperial Guard to exterminate the ravenous xenos.

To divert a good fraction of our military might to a single Adeptus Mechanicus exploratory expedition would be placing stress on the remaining military forces that bore the brunt of the attacks of enemies and threats throughout the galaxy. The removal of even a small detachment of knights or a single armored company could make the difference between victory and defeat and generals were loathed to diminish their already thinly stretched armies.

On the other hand, the benefits of recovering STCs could be enormous. If the Adeptus Mechanicus recovered STCs of weapons or templates for Titans and other colossal war machines, the newly discovered technology could tip the balance of the wars in our favor and help us overcome even the insolent Tau and their advanced battle-suits and vehicles, or Abbadon the Despoiler's forces occupying the majority of Cadia.

Was it worth the risk?

The officers had been discussing the request among themselves and after a while they reached a consensus. They consulted with the daimyos present in the meeting and sought their approval before turning back to the patient archmagos, who despite his augments and mechanized body, seemed to be waiting with bated breath.

"We understand," General Godou, the highest-ranking officer in the Draconis Imperial Guard Armored Regiment spoke up. "We'll attach a single armored brigade to your explorator fleet. I hope this is enough."

"It's more than enough! Thank you very much!"

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Archmagos Styrimidon fell to his augmented knees, the metal clanging against the floor, and bowed gratefully to General Godou, who looked amused at the dramatic display of emotion.

"I'll also field a small household detachment of Imperial Knights," Daimyo Kagawa spoke up, causing Archmagos Styrimidon to raise his head in surprise. "I'm afraid we can only spare twelve knights at the most, though. House Yato, House Uesugi and House Takeda need the majority of their knights to fight off Hive Fleet Leviathan in the Gravax Sector. We're answering the calls of House Hawkshroud, House Raven and House Cadmus to confront bio-titans, monstrous creatures and other horrors."

"That is more than enough!"

Again, the dramatic display of gratitude. Oh well. The archmagos knew this was a compromise and was well aware of our efforts in the other wars spread throughout the galaxy so he didn't dare ask for more. Despite his exaggerated antics, I could tell that he was truly grateful.

"I would also like to join the explorator fleet, if you don't mind."

Lector raised his hand and announced, making his presence known to all in the room in case they had forgotten about him. Nodding at the inquisitor, Archmagos Styrimidon stood back up.

"Ah, yes. We have already discussed your accompanying the explorator fleet. I believe I said there were no problems and given my express permission."

"That's right. If I recall, the Draconians do not have psykers among their ranks, right? I believe my psychic abilities will prove useful in this mission."

"Yes, we look forward to receiving your help. We really appreciate your understanding and support."

"If I may," Daimyo Kagawa spoke up curiously, scrutinizing the larger man. "Why are you accompanying the exporator fleet, Inquisitor Rex?"

"Please, call me Lector." Again, the friendly facade. "As for your question, I have experienced psychic visions and premonitions. Something ominous has appeared on Asmodai and is gathering quite the number of warp-fuelled beings to its side."

"Daemons." Sigmar's augmented face breathed nervously. Lector nodded.

"That is what I believe. I need to go there and confirm the presence of the ominous entity itself. And if it does turn out to be building an army of daemons, I will have to call in the daemonhunters from the militant branch of the Ordo Malleus."

The Grey Knights, in other words. I wasn't supposed to know of their existence but I did hear rumors of these powerful and pure psychic daemonhunters who often appeared suddenly to bring down divine wrath upon their Chaos-bred foes before disappearing just as mysteriously. Officially, they didn't exist but I had seen them teleport to a battlefield invaded by daemons before, clad in arcane Terminator armor and wielding mystical force weapons.

Well, at least we knew why Lector was coming. I was relieved that he was being candid and honest with us. A lot of inquisitors came along forcefully, using their imperial authority to follow us around and requisition our forces without being forthcoming or reasonable explanations and they usually concealed shadowy agendas.

Despite their titles, I suspected most of those agendas to be self-serving rather than to be in the service of the Emperor as per their claims.

"One more thing."

Just as we thought it was over, with the majority of humans (except our resident Skitarius and mechanized Tech-priests) sucking in their breaths in awe and fear, Lector continued in his usual cheerful manner.

"We are going into the Maelstrom, right? While at it, we might as well drop by Hell's Claws after the completion of your mission. If I recalled, clues uncovered from the war in Hell's Teeth point toward Hell's Claws being the location of the legendary omnicopaeia."

I could see Archmagos Styrimidon stagger from Lector's request.

"Why do you know that?" He gasped, wheezing through his breather mask. "That knowledge is only known to the Logi technoanalysts working on the clues the Skitarii discovered on Hell's Claws and a few select Fabricator Generals and their coven of Archmagos."

Lector merely smiled enigmatically. "I'm an inquisitor. There is no knowledge within the Imperium that can escape me."

I stared at him, my jaw dropping in surprise. The war on Hell's Teeth wasn't known to many outsiders. Indeed, when the Adeptus Mechanicus learned of clues leading to the location of the omnicopaeia being present on Hell's Teeth, they dispatched billions of Skitarii there to uncover them. However, Hell's Teeth was a daemon world, filled with colossal daemon engines, cunning daemon princes and other foul beings that roamed its surface purely for slaughter. Countless Skitarii were sacrificed, but the Tech-priests commandeering them finally succeeded in finding the clues after decades of brutal warfare. The conflict had spilled on from the final years of the 41st millennium into the 42nd, but the archomagos and priesthood of Mars thought the war was worth it and devoted their efforts into analyzing and deciphering their hard-earned clues.

It seemed they had finally decrypted it but obviously a non-priest like me wasn't privy to such top-secret information.

"However, Hell's Claws is another daemon world teeming with warp-spawn and monsters that greatly outnumber our exploratory fleet. Without a full-scale invasion sanctioned by Mars, I'm afraid we do not have the numbers and resources to secure a position upon the planet and recover the Omnicopaeia. Not to mention, the results of the analysis and decryption remain sketchy and not very reliable. It would be a senseless sacrifice if the decryption turns out to be wrong."

"Don't worry. I have a plan." Lector's smile grew wider, and somehow his enthusiasm and confidence seemed to infect me. I had a feeling that if we followed this guy, we might be able to pull off the impossible. "If everything goes accordingly to plan, we won't need to launch a full-scale war. We just need to sneak in, steal the STC before the daemons realize we are even there, and then escape from right under their noses. Of course, this is highly dependent on our primary mission. If the daemon incursion on Asmodai proves more difficult than I think, then I will remain behind with the militant branch of the daemonhunters to purify the world. In addition, if we orbit Hell's Claws and my intelligence finds the mission unreasonable, I will call it off."

"Very well." I could almost hear a sigh from Archmagos Styrimidon's mechanical lungs. "The explorator fleet will follow your lead and head to Hell's Claws upon achieving both our primary objectives on Asmodai. After that, the decision to land on the planet will be left to you."

"You won't regret it," Lector promised. I almost rolled my eyes at the clichéd phrase, a sure signpost that things would go south, everything would go wrong and we would most certainly regret going to Hell's Claws. But there was no arguing with an inquisitor and he continued confidently. "If we succeed, we will be making history in the Imperium."

I wondered if this meant that we would get mentioned in some obscure fluff portion in the future 8th edition codex or codices of the factions of the Adeptus Mechanicus.


	7. 0111

0111

I watched as my Knight Crusader was fitted a Stormspear rocket pod. The carapace weapon was delicately balanced atop the hunched turtle shell-shaped robot, lobotomized servitors welding it into place. Sparks flew as the metal turned red-hot from the intense jet of flame, the servitors also connecting cables and wires to establish a link to the Throne Mechanicum.

"Looks like we'll be marching out soon," Lieutenant Yamada said beside me, also watching his Knight Warden receive another Stormspear rocket pod. I nodded in agreement. The Adeptus Mechanicus was being magnanimous this time, handing out whatever upgrades and freebies they could. Obviously their generosity wasn't borne out of altruism but a more self-serving motive.

After all, if we died because of the lack of firepower, the Adeptus Mechanicus wouldn't be able to get their hands on the STCs they wanted. It was only logical and more efficient to arm their military escorts with as many weapons as possible.

"Have you seen the newbie yet?"

I shook my head at Yamada's question. Usually Knight household detachments were broken into many small units of three known as Lances. A Lance of Imperial Knights included at least three massive battle-suits while a Daimyo Court had four up to five. In times of crisis, the rarely-seen Exalted Court, featuring the Shogun and his most trusted Daimyos, would march to war, exhibiting their awesome might and unparalleled skill to the universe.

Fortunately, the Draconis system was rarely invaded. The Tyranids targeted the opposite ends of the galaxy, there was nothing here of interest to the forces of Chaos, the Eldar and Necrons largely ignored us and the Orks found much better foes to fight against elsewhere. The Tau was also expanding on the opposite side of us - very close to the space where the Tyranids were attacking, so the two xenos would probably annihilate each other and save us the trouble of fighting them.

It would probably take centuries or so before the Exalted Court would be called to march in defense of our core worlds.

To replace the late Lieutenant Suzuki in our Lance, House Yato had dispatched a young knight fresh out of the academy, a graduated trainee who had yet to step foot on the battlefield. As with all of us, he should have been ferried up to Draconis IV with his new armored suit, all of which were being upgraded and optimized inside this particular manufactorum.

"Is he the one?"

I wondered when I caught sight of an unfamiliar face. The young man was staring up at his Knight Paladin, which was being fitted with twin Icarus autocannons. He had the eager, bloodthirsty look of a newbie soldier, looking forward to killing things but hadn't experienced the grim, harsh reality of the battlefield. Furthermore, his clothes gave him away. He wasn't dressed in the red robes of the Mechanicus adepts but the black and gold uniform of the Draconis armored regiment. The difference between our uniforms and the regular guardsmen was relatively small but obvious. The formation badge pasted on his right shoulder bore the crest of House Yato, with Houses Uesugi and Takeda having their own individual designs.

All three houses were consistent in one thing. Our emblem was a shield with cog teeth surrounding it. The shield was split into half, with one side featuring a golden demi-Aquila against a black background to show our loyalty to the Emperor and the Imperium. The left side featured the black cog and gold skull of the Adeptus Mechanicus against a red background, as fealty to the forge world that manufactured, repaired and maintained our battle-suits.

That was as far as the similarity went. House Yato's emblem featured a black dragon behind the shield, its dark, massive wings spreading out to either side. Cutting the shield in half was the dragon's serpentine neck before it rested its head atop one of the cog's teeth that ringed the shield. House Uesugi featured a white armored warrior instead of a dragon, and the background of its shield was white and blue rather than red and black, with a blue blade separating the Aquila from the cog. House Takeda featured a crimson tiger, and its demi-Aquila and Adeptus Mechanicus skull were red instead of gold.

Our Imperial Knights had eschewed the brilliant heraldry and design that almost all other houses on other worlds sported. The demands and rigors of the battlefield often took their toll on the flashy, exquisitely designed emblems and heralds that knights sported on the tiny shields and crotch-banner (yeah, seriously, our lumbering super-heavy walkers had crotch-banners hanging from their groins), so after a while the knights of Houses Yato, Uesugi and Takeda decided that they had enough and resorted to merely painting a yellow smiley face on the tiny shields and crotch banners.

We were more practical than show-offs and couldn't stand cleaning and replacing the flashy emblems and heraldry after every mission. It was troublesome, expensive and not worth the time and effort. Fortunately, as we wore the standard Guard uniform that our brothers in the Draconian Armored Defense Force sported, we could still proudly bear our emblem via the formation badge stuck to the Velcro pad on our right shoulder sleeves. As the pilots inside the Throne Mechanicum were virtually untouched by the grim, filth, blood and ash on the battlefield, our formation badges were left untainted as compared to the heraldry hanging from our suits. Plus the flashy, showy and vividly colored heraldry often presented us as huge target markers during a mission, causing us to soak a lot of fire. Nope, we would rather be practical and stay out of sight than catch the eye of our enemies just because of a brilliant and gaudy design.

The Imperial Guard used a different and much simpler badge, that of a single golden Aquila, a emblem that was plain when contrasted against the grandiose heraldry of the knightly houses. As I said earlier, our uniforms were the same, whether guardsman or knight, using the simple military design that was set by the legendary Cadian Shock Troops. A number of worlds copied the uniform used by the regiments of Cadia, and we were no exception. We colored our uniform mostly black with a few splotches of gold (usually dull) because whatever few infantry we had usually hide in the shadows during combat.

There was no need for camouflage as our soldiers were mostly tank crews or mechanized infantry riding inside Chimera Armored Personnel Carriers or the massive Doomhammer super-heavy tank that served as a giant transport that was capable of accommodating a single minimum-sized platoon (a command squad and 2 infantry squads). The troops that lose their vehicles, particularly the more fragile Chimera APCs (when compared to our Leman Russ Tanks), usually take up a position in cover, backing up to the wall and blending in with the shadows so as not to attract the attention of their enemies. This probably is embodied most of all by the Draconis Special Forces Group, more commonly known as the Kamikaze Storm Troopers, an elite military branch that was trained by the Schola Progenium in Draconis III. Their call-sign to other Tempestus Militarum battle regiments was the Draconian Dragons, but their official name, like the Astra Militarum Draconian Armored Defense Force, was the Draconian Special Forces Group.

Or, was we knights and common troopers like to call them, the Kamikaze Troopers. As I said earlier, they were experts in blending into the shadows, sneaking, infiltrating and deep-striking far behind enemy lines to take out high-value targets like artillery, command squads, armored vehicles, or in the case of Tyranids, Hive Tyrants, commanding bio-titans and other monstrous creatures. With the high-powered weapons at their disposal such as plasma guns (well, this is Draconis after all), meltaguns and hot-shot volley guns, they were more than capable of neutralizing whatever gargantuan threats they were sent to deal with. They excelled in their jobs so much that they had gained recognition on par with the renowned Kasrkin of the Cadian Shock Troops and the relentless Grenadiers of the Death Korps of Krieg.

The problem was that...well, they rarely return alive. Yet, every Kamikaze Trooper would happily and fervently throw themselves into such suicide missions, not having the least regard for their lives. To them, there was no greater honor than exterminating the largest foes of the Emperor, even if they had to lose their lives to do so.

Hence, Kamikaze. Yup.

By the way, the Draconian Dragons used Vendetta gunships instead of Valkyrie gunships or Taurox Prime APCs. Apparently they were more comfortable with parachuting from the air like Elysian Drop Troops, and operating in small-enough squads that could fit inside the more aggressive Vendetta. The survivors most likely went through more covert missions than an entire battalion combined.

The young man was visibly bearing the crest of House Yato and as I already knew the other ten Knights who would be participating in the explorator fleet. He turned after a while, and suddenly perked up. It seemed that he had spotted me because he began running in my direction.

"You...you are Captain Tanaka!"

"Um...yes."

I wasn't sure how to deal with the newbie in front of me, faltering at his bright proclamation. He oozed of enthusiasm, which often meant recklessness in the battlefield (particularly the first mission) and led to an early death. If he really was the replacement for Suzuki in my Lance, I had to keep an eye on him. Most probably I had to keep a tight leash on him and ensure he didn't do anything stupid like charge into a lumbering Wraithknight or something.

I had no idea what happened but Wraithknights somehow got more powerful a few months ago, gaining Destroyer weapons capable of wrecking our Imperial Knights despite costing much less than us. Rumors were abound that they had somehow "evolved" into a Gargantuan Creature and hence sniper rounds and poison no longer wounded them unless the guy was incredibly lucky or fired at least six shots with five of them ineffective. Plus Force Weapons no longer worked because Instant Death had become inapplicable to them. It was so unfair.

I wanted to cry to the Emperor about Eldar being overpowered and beg him to nerf them. Of course, the irony being that I was a pilot in a super-heavy walker with AV13, a close combat Destroyer weapon (well, not _my_ Knight specifically), an ion shield and the ability to shoot my various weapons at different targets. That said, despite costing a lot more, our Imperial Knights still got utterly destroyed by Wraithknights in both close combat and long range. What the hell!?

On second thought, perhaps the God-Emperor wasn't the one responsible for determining the rules of the universe. I should approach our Spiritual Liege (or lieges) instead.

"I'm Warrant Officer Otsuka Eijirou! Nice to meet you!"

"Um, nice to meet you. I'm guessing you're the new guy in my Lance?"

"Yes, that's right! I look forward to fighting under you!"

I knew it. I exchanged a glance with Yamada, who shrugged with a smile and turned away. The bastard wasn't going to help me.

I took a deep breath and considered a list of rules before settling on a couple.

"Okay, I have two rules. One, survive. No matter what. Even if you have to run away from the enemy in combat, just do it if you're going to die. Two, everyone returns home together."

"Eh!? But isn't it a great honor to die in glorious combat?"

I knew it. The instructors had indoctrinated the same bullshit in Otsuka that they did on me during my time in the academy. A few years in the battlefield and near-death experiences had washed away the imperial brainwashing and caused me to wise up, but a lot of my more unfortunate comrades never had the chance to experience the same enlightenment as I did.

They were all dead.

I sighed and hoped my role as the leader would at least instill some obedience in my new subordinate.

"Survival in itself is a form of victory against the Emperor's enemies. There is absolutely no point in dying in combat when your death doesn't help win the war. If you survive, you can regroup, heal, repair and plan before waiting for an opportune time to strike at the enemy and take revenge. Additionally, I need you alive for future missions and battles, so don't die on me because of honor. Survive because of your responsibility. Every death means one less man to fight the foes of the Imperium. Survive and you'll live to fight another day and kill even more enemies in the future. Dying honorably isn't even a short-term gain unless your sacrifice tips the tide of war and I doubt there are few scenarios in which that happens. Think long-term."

"Y...yes, sir."

Otsuka stammered, trying to take it all in. I could see that he didn't believe me. No matter. After his first experience on the battlefield, seeing men get blown apart to bloody pieces, mechanical warriors torn limb from limb by crackling, deformed horrors, tanks vaporized by deadly energies and fortified positions overrun by an endless tide of clawed chitin or the bellowing green tsunami bearing crudely assembled weapons, machines and choppers...only then would he understand what I was talking about. Death wasn't glorious or honorable. It was horrifying, ugly and brutal. Dying in combat was not the way I wanted to go.

I would rather my enemies die instead. If not now, then later, after I escaped and brought back the coordinates for an apocalyptic artillery bombardment.

Otsuka wandered away after what he perceived as a dismissal. I tried to be friendly after my somber speech, smiling and assuring him that I would look out for him, but it was obvious that he was disappointed that I wasn't the commander that he thought I would be. Well, I wasn't obligated to live up to whatever image he selfishly constructed in his mind. Besides, I had more important things to worry about, like Raiji 44-Stroika, who was conversing with a Tech-priest in the opposite end of the factory. After watching Otsuka disappear, I headed to Stroika.

"What's up?" I asked. Stroika looked up, having been inspecting some new, weird-looking weapon that was being produced by the hundreds on a conveyer belt. I picked one up and studied it, recognizing it as a plasma caliver. "Hey, isn't this a plasma caliver?"

"Don't touch that!" The Tech-priest blurted out frantically, a surprise because he was releasing blurts of binary before. Yeah, of course, because without my on-screen translator in my Throne Mechanicum, I wouldn't understand what he was saying. I hastily placed the gleaming weapon back on the belt.

"Sorry."

"It's fine. It's a new model of plasma caliver," Stroika explained, his calm demeanor a stark contrast to the Tech-priest's waving mechadendrites. "The Draconian priesthood is handing out these to the explorator fleet for us to test it out in real combat."

"Really? A new model?"

"It's reserved exclusively for the Skitarii legions," the tech-priest corrected, almost as if he was sniffing, but that was impossible with his re-breather. Aw...poor guardsmen then, they always never got to play with the new toys. "Non-Mechanicus personnel are not allowed to touch them."

"It seems that the Artisans have found a way to combine Tau technology with ours, and they succeeded in manufacturing plasma weaponry that is much more stable and will not blow up despite repeated usage," Stroika explained helpfully. Laymen translation: the Skitarii's plasma weapons are now immune to getting hot. "They have applied it to our plasma calivers and this is the result. I believe the Legio Cybernetica also has received the same type of weapons. The plasma culverins on the heavy battle servitors are being replaced en masse right now."

In other words, the Kataphron Destroyers' weapons are also immune to getting hot.

"The Imperial Guard could really make use of this technology," I lamented, thinking of the mechanized infantry squads and Leman Russ Executioner squadrons that relied heavily on the volatile plasma weapons. The tech-priest snorted.

"Do you think we will be able to produce a similar weapon for the Guard within such a short timeframe? We may be servants of the Omnissiah but we are not miracle workers. It's impossible for us to replace the plasma guns and cannons of the Draconian Armored Defense Force before the explorator fleet leaves."

Wow, this guy was really obnoxious. But at least he was talking to me and not acting as if I didn't exist like the tech-priests of most other forge worlds do. The adepts tended to not think very highly of humans who didn't have augmentations or bionic implants. Well, they tended to have more respect for knight pilots but because of my uniform they couldn't tell me apart from a regular guardsman. The details of formation badges and household heraldry were under them.

Still, the tech-priest continued, albeit in a calmer tone.

"Besides, the Defense Force has the plasma siphon absorber."

"The what?"

"That equipment over there, which is carried around by your regiment's company commanders."

Well, they weren't exactly _my_ company commanders and I was technically outside the chain of command, falling into a completely different military branch known as Knights. As it was pointless to explain that, I looked in the direction the tech-priest pointed and saw a familiar-looking device.

"The Kurov's Aquila?"

"Good Omnissiah! That's not the Kurov's Aquila! Why do every single guardsman, including the commanders call it that!? It's a plasma siphon absorber, for crying out loud. This is why people without cybernetics and the Omnissiah's blessings..."

I ignored the tech-priest's rant and looked closer. Indeed, that was the same thing Colonel Ikeda was carrying when riding in his Doomhammer super-heavy tank, _The Emperor's Wrath_. The both of us thought it was a Kurov's Aquila because of its shape - it was built to resemble the two-headed avian servitor that bellowed the esteemed General Kurov's treatises. Now that I thought about it, Ikeda never used it the way it was normally used and I never saw the hololithic display of General Kurov folding his arms and bellowing orders.

Right. So it was this thing. I was still going to call it a Kurov's Aquila because of the special rules and benefits it conferred upon Ikeda's unit though.

"How about the honorable House Yato? Are your military preparations complete?"

"Yeah, almost done. They're making the last touches now. I guess the Defense Force is left?"

I turned toward outside and in the far distance I could see rows of Chimera APCs driving into the transport vessels that would take them up to the Mechanicus fleet in orbit. Each Chimera was filled with an infantry squad. Beside the Chimera APCs were columns of Leman Russ Executioner tanks, rolling up the ramps into their own orbital transports not far away from the infantry's.

The regular Draconian Imperial Guard resembled the Armageddon Steel Legion with our mechanized infantry and tanks, but we relied on Vendetta gunships more than they do, and we had a lot more Leman Russ Executioners in proportion to their Leman Russ variants. Plus our plasma gun infantry. Actually, it seems that we only had Leman Russ Executioners, with only Ryza beating us in terms of sheer numbers. Even though Draconis IV manufactured Leman Russ Battle Tanks and Leman Russ Vaquishers, I hardly see them in use by the Draconian Armored Defense Force. Actually, the ADF didn't use Leman Russ Battle Tanks or Leman Russ Vanquishers at all. We used Leman Russ siege tanks instead of the battle tank variants. I only showed Inquisitor Lector Rex the Leman Russ Battle Tanks and Vanquisher munifactorum to impress upon him how vital Draconis IV was to the survival of the Imperium, manufacturing mass numbers of the ubiquitous Leman Russ Battle Tank and the much rarer Leman Russ Vanquisher (especially now, after Gryphonne IV was consumed by the Tyranids), but the truth was, these were distributed to the Imperium immediately after production, without any transported into the garages of the ADF.

The plasma weapons were another issue altogether as we were given first priority to them. As a result, our mechanized infantry were equipped with an unusually high number of plasma weapons that were uncommon among most infantry divisions throughout the Imperium. Only when the Mechanicus was satisfied that the ADF had all the plasma weapons and Leman Russ Executioners that they need then they would be willing to ship the leftovers to the rest of the Imperium.

Most of the guardsmen in an infantry squad packed into those Chimera APCs possessed lasguns, but they had a few specialists that were equipped with flamers and heavy flamers, or plasma guns, or meltguns. Mostly plasma guns, knowing how the Draconian Armored regiment worked, a moderate amount of flamers and very few meltaguns.

Meltaguns were of little use to infantry who obviously couldn't just roll up in front of a tank in their Chimera APC, jump out and shoot it in close range. They would get blown off the field before they reach within a hundred meters of that tank. The anti-tank roles could be adequately fulfilled by us Imperial Knights and our immense firepower, arc rifles-wielding Skitarri Rangers, uncannily accurate Ironstrider Ballistarii with lacannons or lumbering Onager Dunecrawlers equipped with the devastating neutron laser. Even among the Defense Force, the Special Forces Group was better trained to deal with heavy armor, the Kamikaze Troopers either deep-striking behind enemy lines and shooting the tanks in their lightly armored rear or parachuting down from Vendetta gunships to land near the enemy. For that reason they had a few squads kitted out with meltaguns - though still not as many as the squads with plasma guns or hot-shot volley guns.

The ADF relied heavily on siege tanks which included not only the large number of Leman Russ Executioners but also the Leman Russ Demolisher, and much more rarely, the Leman Russ Punisher, which was only given to tank commanders because of the scarcity of its special-issue Draconis IV exclusive Punisher rounds. Unlike most Leman Russ Punishers, the Draconis IV-patterned tanks were issued high-velocity, armor-piercing rounds that were capable of rending and penetrating through even the thick armor of a Space Marine Land Raider or mortally wounding Monstrous Creatures and Gargantuan Creatures alike. I couldn't help but laugh when I once saw a single Leman Russ Punisher rending a Wraithknight to death with its sheer volume of fire. So much for D-weapons, yeah.

Bowing politely to Stroika and the impatient Tech-priest, I took my leave, strolling out of the factory and heading straight for the lumbering behemoth that towered over even the huge Leman Russ tanks. It was crawling rather slowly, the driver being careful not to accidentally crush equipment, other vehicles or the staff on the ground frantically trying to get out of the way. However, I caught sight of a familiar face not far from the super-heavy tank and made my way toward him.

"Colonel Ikeda!" I called out as I approached my friend. He turned away from his moving Doomhammer super-heavy tank and responded with a friendly wave. Jerking my hand at the _Emperor's Wrath_ , I asked. "I take it that the 74th Battalion is moving out?"

"Yeah, we've been assigned to the explorator fleet."

"Heh...that's great! House Yato sent me and my Lance as well."

"Really?" Colonel Ikeda widened his eyes, but his grin grew. "I look forward to working with you again."

I could tell that he wasn't merely being polite, but it wasn't because of any affection for me either. As we had worked together before, in the Genova system where we fought the Tau Empire, we knew each other's tactics, working methods and strengths. We also knew how to compensate for each other's weaknesses. If Colonel Ikeda needed me to escort a few squadrons of Leman Russ tanks and an artillery tank battery, I would gladly do it.

"We're getting the new Wyvern Suppression Tanks," Colonel Ikeda informed me.

"Wyvern?"

I blinked in surprise, not having heard of the name. In the past, artillery batteries consisted of Griffon Heavy Mortar Carriers, Colossus Bombards and Medusa Siege Guns. The ADF was never blessed with these ancient, antiquated artillery vehicles, however, with them being phased out of production by the time our forge world came into being.

We had the opportunity to build Basilisk Artilleries, but the Tech-priests scorned them, thinking that the Leman Russ Battle Tanks did a much better job, were more armored and had higher survivability while being more mobile. Ironically, the ADF wasn't issued Leman Russ Battle Tanks, but we didn't need them. They were rendered obsolete by the Knight Paladin and Knight Crusader suits fielded by the three great houses. Each Knight suit could fire twice as much ordnance as a single Leman Russ Battle Tank and take over its role, so we distributed them to other Imperial Guard regiments instead.

We more suited for charging into the enemy with an armored fist, anyway, sending Leman Russ Demolishers at the tip of the spear with a Tank Commander in a Leman Russ Punisher in the center giving orders and him flanked by large numbers of Leman Russ Executioners spewing hot plasma death. I wondered what this new Wyvern could do.

Fortunately, Ikeda had an answer on hand.

"That's the Wyverns," he pointed at a bunch of moving mortar vehicles. "They're equipped with twin-linked stormshards mortars. They specialize in close-ranged saturation bombardment, firing a storm of shrapnel to cut enemy infantry apart. They are designed to penetrate even cover, perforating walls and barricades alike. Their role is anti-infantry support for our tanks."

"Heh," I mused, impressed. Indeed, our Leman Russ tanks needed support against infantry squads firing anti-vehicle weapons at us. "That's really useful."

"Yeah. I can't wait to see these babies in combat! This will be the first time the 74th Battalion, no, the ADF is using them in field."

Certainly, that would be a sight to see.

I watched the batteries of Wyverns roll up the ramp and into the space transport that would ferry them to the fleet. The rows of tanks vanished into the huge cargo hall that housed them. The ramp rose mechanically, slamming shut and the shuttle's thrusters began to flare violently as it began takeoff procedures.

The row of Leman Russ Executioner tanks and columns of Chimera APCs had already taken up positions in their respective space crafts, which were preparing to launch. Beside them, the last of the Leman Russ Demolisher tanks were slowly lumbering into a smaller transport ship, numbering half of their Executioner counterparts.

And soon it would be our turn.

"Sir! The 74th Battalion has successfully boarded the transport ships. It's just us left."

A Leman Russ Punisher, one out of a pitiful few when compared to the other Leman Russ variants' vast numbers, rolled to a stop beside the giant Doomhammer super-heavy tank. A grizzled man in his thirties stuck his gruff face out of the tank's hatch to call out to the still disembarked Colonel Ikeda.

"Oh, Kouhei. Thanks. I'll be joining soon." Colonel Ikeda then turned to me. "Tanaka, this is Lieutenant-colonel Hasekura Kouhei. He's my second-in-command and the highest-ranking Tank Commander in the battalion. For some reason he doesn't want a Doomhammer of his own."

"I don't need a Doomhammer. A Leman Russ is good enough for me."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Anyway, please hurry up or the transport will leave without you."

"Ah! All right!" Colonel Ikeda turned back to me with a scowl even as Hasekura's Leman Russ Punisher gunned the engine and darted into the transport where the other tank commanders in Punishers were waiting. "I'll see you on the battlefield, Tanaka. I hope we can rely on you for super-heavy support again."

"You have the Knights of House Yato at your disposal," I promised, and then quickly rectified myself. "Or at least my Lance. I don't know about the other Knight leaders, but I'll offer the assistance of my Lance."

I hoped Otsuka didn't do anything stupid in the meantime and end up getting himself killed while leading a column of tanks in an armored charge straight into the enemy. That would be disastrous. We needed him to provide long-range support with his rapid-fire battle cannon, not run headlong into our foes like the notorious Kamikaze Troopers.

Hey, even those Kamikaze Troopers didn't stupidly run straight at their targets. They sneakily deep-strike behind them.

Nodding, I made the sign of the cog and then the sign of the Aquila to signify our dual allegiances, and Colonel Ikeda responded with only the Aquila. While the Imperial Guard received invaluable support, material, equipment, vehicles and resources from the Adeptus Mechanicus, their loyalty was ultimately to the Emperor and only the Emperor.

I watched as Colonel Ikeda climbed aboard the massive Doomhammer and then direct the super-heavy command tank into the commander's transport lifter that was reserved exclusively for him and his commanders. The behemoth drove into the center, flanked by the Leman Russ Punishers that were in turn occupied by commanders.

It wasn't long before the barge took off and I found myself watching the spectacle of flame, smoke and enormous transports blasting off and fading into the heavens above. As countless shuttles took off, APCs and tanks in their bellies, they blotted out the light red sky with their sheer numbers. I admired the scenery, losing track of time as my mind somehow fell into a peaceful trance.

"Sir Taihei, it is time."

"Oh? Kazu?" I recognized the voice as someone stalked up beside me. It was none other than my personal Sacristan or koushou, Watanabe Kazuki. He stood upright, as formal as ever despite me frequently telling him to relax. "I assume you have finished the upgrades and welding?"

Kazu nodded, a smile coming over his weary face. "It is done," he confirmed.

Being the supervisor and the chief of the crew that maintained and repaired my knight, Kazu worked tirelessly for long hours to make sure my suit was in tip-top shape and optimized for battle. There was no flaw he overlooked, no gear he left out of place and no damage he missed patching up. I could trust the condition of my suit to him. Knowing that he was the one in charge of maintaining my knight, I could confidently marched into the battlefield without worrying about glitches or little niggles that would otherwise mean the difference between life and death.

"How about the others?"

"The other Sacristans also say that their work is done, sir. We can move out anytime now. I believe Sir Kurosawa is leading his Lance to the Mechanicus's transport barges now."

"I understand. Tell the crew to pack up and get ready. I'll round up my Lance and we'll board our designated transport barge once everyone is ready."

"Right away, sir!"

Despite himself, the usually formal Kazu was visibly excited. No doubt he looked forward to experimenting with new carapace weapons and the like while repairing my suit and upgrading its performance and operating system with each vicious battle. As for me, I wasn't looking forward into getting into any fights. I prayed hard to the Emperor that we wouldn't get into any bloody scrap like we did back in the Genova system.

The appearance of daemons was unnerving. Emperor willing, I never wanted to meet them again.

It took less than an hour for the crews, led by Kazu and the respective koushous of Yamada and Otsuka, to get ready and board the colossal transport barge that was to ferry our knights. I was pleased to see that we were second, behind Kurosawa's Lance. Otsuka, while less enthusiastic than before, was still quick to follow orders and Yamada was being Yamada. As usual.

As the three of us got into our Knights and began booting up the systems running our Throne Mechanicum, I did one last check to make sure nothing was out of place.

Excellent. Everything was good to go. Yamada and Otsuka too voxed me to display their readiness to launch.

I nodded in satisfaction and thumbed my vox, leaning back and sensing the presence of other people. The generations of knights who had piloted _Ryuujin_ before me, their ghosts whispering intelligibly but their intentions clear. They were spoiling for a fight and their aggressiveness almost threw me off. I immediately clamped down on the feelings, but I couldn't suppress the excitement welling up inside me. Pressing the button, I voxed Yamada and Otsuka.

"Knights of the Imperium," I shouted. "We march!"


	8. 1000

1000

The Adeptus Mechanicus explorator fleet exited the Warp right on schedule, its advanced systems and programs having calculated right down to the last decimal where and when to make the transition. Once in real space, the fleet powered down their Geller fields and grimly sailed in the cold, empty vacuum, intent on reaching the planet a few million kilometers away.

The largest of the ships, designated as the flagship, was the Ark Mechanicus Class Battleship, _Yamato_. Housing Archmagos Explorator Slovan Styrimidon, essentially the Supreme Commander of the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation, the Alpha Primus Raiji-44 Stroika and a whole Skitarii maniple, and Magos Klein Sigmar, the leader of the Legio Cybernetica and the acting Tech-priest Dominus on the ground, it had assembled all the commanders together in a single ship. I questioned the wisdom of that - for, if under some unforeseen circumstances where we came under attack and lose _Yamato_ , all the commanders in the fleet would be gone.

Then again, the Ark Mechanicus Class Battleship was equipped with dozens of layers of void shields and armed with hundreds of devastating orbital cannons, anti-ship beam cannons and plasma artillery batteries. Styrimidon probably wanted his commanders safe and sheltered inside what he thought was the safest and most defensive ship inside his fleet. If anything else, he wouldn't hesitate the other cruisers and escorts to sacrifice themselves to protect the flagship if necessary.

The other large ship was Emperor Class Battleship _Kongou_ , also similarly but not as well armed as the Ark Mechanicus Class. Obviously the Adeptus Mechanicus liked to keep the best of its technology to itself so the Ark Mechanicus class, exclusive to them, had more firepower, longer range and better shielding. Despite that, _Kongou_ was still a force to reckon with, able to pour down a raging fusillade of plasma fire to melt an entire planet into a chunk of molten rock. I just hope I wasn't on the poor planet when it happened.

This was the ship where the Imperial Knights and the bulk of the Imperial Guard were housed, Houses Yato and their closely allied houses gathering in the massive cargo hold of the ship alongside the countless tanks of the Draconian Armored Defense Force. Even the _Doomhammer_ super-heavy tank was dwarfed by the sheer size of the hold, which resembled an endless cavern that stretched on forever. Fortunately, the Imperial Guard had the numbers to take up the space, their equally endless rows of tanks parked along the shiny metal, Techpriest enginseers running about to maintain them. The Imperial Knights were provided a massive corner of our own, our territory fiercely guarded by our Sacristans and their crews. Kazu might not be that hostile, but the others certainly were, chasing away curious adepts from their precious knight suits.

To my immense relief, Colonel Ikeda was aboard this ship so I could talk to him or use him as a regicide opponent whenever I felt bored.

The two enormous battleships were escorted by a myriad of cruisers and destroyers. The Adeptus Mechanicus Heavy Cruisers _Takao_ , _Aoba_ , _Maya_ , _Suzuka_ , _Kumano_ and _Ashigara_ kept a silent vigil, forming a ring around _Yamato_ and _Kongou_. They were in turn surrounded by the Adeptus Mechanicus Light Cruisers _Tenryuu_ , _Tatsuta_ , _Kuma_ , _Isuzu_ , _Nagara_ , _Yura_ , _Yuubari_ , _Sendai_ , _Katori_ and _Kashima_. Rounding the smaller ships were the Destroyers _Kaya_ , _Hayate_ , _Aoi_ , _Fuji_ , _Sumire_ , _Shimakaze_ , _Asakaze_ , _Harukaze_ , _Shirayuki_ and _Ayanami_.

The Heavy Transport or Heavy Barge, the sole vessel transporting the Titans of the _Legio Gojira_ , _Bishamonten_ , _Inugami_ and _Ookami_ , stayed behind the two battleships, protected by the ring of escorts. Accompanying it was the Goliath class Factory Ship, _Kyojin_ , and the Goliath class Forge Tender, _Akashi_. _Kyojin_ continued to manufacture imperial navy vessels such as the Vendetta Gunships, ammunition, plasma weapons and Leman Russ Executioners. _Akashi_ performed maintenance repairs on the fleet, particularly the capital ships if necessary, and was arguably the most important ship in the fleet, next to the _Yamato_. All three non-combat ships were zealously guarded by the capital ships and their smaller but heavily armed escorts. Their contents were considered too valuable to be expendable.

Armed to the teeth and bristling with firepower, the enormous explorator fleet made its way ponderously across the void, heading for Asmodai.

* * *

The landing on the relatively empty and barren Asmodai was short and quick. A world caught in the countless conflicts and horrors of the Maelstrom, its surface had been scourged dry, leaving merely rocky terrain and perpetual twilight. Water still flowed, and in many parts of the region, lakes streams and rivers made up an aquatic network that crisscrossed the land and separated it into continents.

Archmagos Styrimidon quickly worked out our landing position, the spot where an Adeptus Mechanicus probe had detected the STCs many years ago. As usual, the Imperial Guard was the first to launch and disembark, clearing the beachhead and securing the landing site for the Mechanicus.

The Imperial Knights were next, ready to lend their formidable power and impenetrable ion shields to the Imperial Guard if they faced any threats that surfaced from within the barren world's rocky crust. The Techpriests enginseers attached to the Armored Defense Force hastily left their armored Chimera APCs and got to work, drilling equipment into the ground and activating machines to begin fabricating a temporary base camp that would serve as the accommodations and a fortress for the Guard during the duration that we would be here.

Once the defensive camp had been built, an imposing fortress with thousands of firepoints for the tanks to shoot out of, the Artisans of the Mechanicus descended from _Yamato_ and began building in the empty center a huge castle-like building that would serve as the operation base for Mechanicus command. No doubt Tech-priest Dominus Sigmar and Alpha Primus Stroika would be housed there, overseeing operations and missions in the safety of the reinforced bunker. As usual, only the Mechanicus got the good stuff while the poor Guardsmen hid under crudely constructed plasteel walls and sentry towers. Well, at least they had their tanks to protect them.

Speaking of which, I had no doubt Stroika would lead his troops on the frontlines instead of cowering inside the operations base. Sigmar, too, was the kind to actively participate in battle instead of overseeing it in safety, trusting in the massive Kastelan robots of his Legio Cybernetica to protect him. Not that he needed them - his heavily augmented body and the Autocaduceus of Arkhan Land ensured that It Will Not Die. I mean he.

Only Archmagos Explorator Styrimidon remained in the safe confines of his Ark Mechanicus battleship, choosing to watch the missions through the eyes and ears of Skitarii while being protected by gunfire, lasgun volleys, plasma blasts and any other threats that might be flung at us. I knew that the archmagos wasn't a coward - far from it - but he was forced by his position to stay aboard the ship in case anything happened on the planet and the fleet was forced to leave. The supreme commander of the Mechanicus fleet was far too important to lose and abandon upon some obscure planet.

I had heard stories in the past where as a Tech-priest Dominous, he led the frontlines in valiant displays of courage that bordered or recklessness and lunacy, taking on Bloodthirsters and Daemon Princes with nothing but his power axe all just so he could retrieve a lost STC. Fortunately, he was armed these days with a Volkite blaster and macrostubber, but against his wishes he was required by Mechanicus protocol to remain aboard _Yamato_ and command the operation from there.

It took a week or so before we finally settled down with free time to spare. The Imperial Guard, having secured the landing zone, could rest in the accommodations and relatively luxurious bunks and recreation factories the Adeptus Mechanicus fabricated for them (more for themselves, actually). We knew we were in here for the long haul so we might as well enjoy ourselves while at it.

Of course, the Guard was sent out on regular forays to sweep the barren wasteland for any sign of STCs. Yeah, leave the grunt work to us (for honor, the Imperial Knights follow the Imperial Guard around as super-heavy escorts) while the Skitarii...well, worked tirelessly to carve an underground complex under our base. Some sort of underground bunker where the servitors and adepts could begin fashioning a super-heavy artillery battery, or so the rumors went. According to a tank driver in a Leman Russ Executioner, they were constructing an Aquila macro-cannon or an Ordinatus machine.

I didn't know whether to believe him or not.

Less than 2 weeks after we set foot on the planet, we finally stumbled into something. The terrain was gray, almost indistinguishable from the perpetual twilight that blackened the skies with thick, heavy clouds. While we were grateful for the cool temperature and comfortable climate, the darkness made it difficult for us to see anything, and we relied heavily on our searchlights and nightvision auspexes to track things down.

So it was with immense relief when we finally came across a huge hole that seemed to lead to a subterranean cavern. We almost missed it - one of the Leman Russ Demolishers' crew found it by accident. When taking a break, the driver lazily sat down, only to have the ground give way under him and sent him tumbling down a slight slope and right in front of the yawning mouth of the cavern. Scrambling excitedly, he quickly ran back to his tank and voxed Colonel Ikeda, leading the rest of the armored force to the massive cavern's entrance with his Demolisher.

"What do you think?" Colonel Ikeda asked me over the vox. I shrugged, but knowing that he couldn't see me, I responded with a verbal reply.

"I think we might have hit the jackpot. The sensors are showing the greatest signals here."

The same type of sensors that the Mechanicus used in their probes, and they were reacting crazily toward the interior of the cavern. No doubt there was something of immense value concealed within.

"Sir, there are plenty of anomalous readings within the cavern. Some sort of exotic energy."

I overheard one of the crew aboard the Doomhammer, _Emperor's Wrath_ , speak up. Colonel Ikeda paused briefly, most likely to nod to acknowledge the guy's statement, and then continued.

"These readings...they seem vaguely familiar. I think we may be walking into a combat zone."

I gulped as I moved the holo-picts around until I found the right auspex. The readings on it matched those of Necrons, and even worse, they seemed recent.

"It's a trap!"

"Even so, we've to walk right into it. Instead of sending in Chimera APCs and infantry to secure and explore the area, I'll test the waters with our tanks. That way, no matter what trap they throw at us, we'll weather them with heavy armor and crush them under sheer firepower."

"Good idea." I nodded. As Colonel Ikeda was the overall commander here I should submit to his judgment. "I'll follow them closely behind to provide long-ranged fire support."

"Yeah, stick with the Leman Russ Executioners and the tank commanders."

The tank commanders in the Leman Russ Punishers. Right. They were probably the most important personnel, but if possible I would like to protect all of them.

The Leman Russ Demolishers slowly rumbled into the cavern, followed closely by the rest of the 74th Battalion, including the Chimera APCs with plasma gun-armed troops. Well, only 3 out of 10 soldiers per squad were equipped with plasma guns, but that was still a high percentage when compared to regiments from other worlds.

As we slowly trekked through the enormous cavern in our armored vehicles, our searchlights dimly illuminating the overwhelming darkness, I caught sight of a eerily glowing structure a kilometer or so ahead. Pulsing with flashing strobes of creepy green light, the structure seemed to hum with living energy. I wanted to turn back and retreat, my mind unable to bear the horrors of such a disturbing visage, but a glance at my auspex made me groan.

"The readings of both the Necrons and the STCs are strongest there," I grumbled. "Well, I hope they haven't woken up yet..."

"I'm afraid they have."

Colonel Ikeda's voice was rife with tension, and through my auspexes I understood. Before my wide, horrified eyes, Canoptek Wraiths were floating through the walls, through the ground and drifting toward us, their whip coils curling around. I hadn't actually fought the Necrons before, but I had heard terrifying tales of these specters rending through metal, phasing through barricades and tearing poor infantry apart with just their claws.

"Kill them! Kill them all!"

I shouted through the vox in panic, inadvertently leaping through the chain of command and bypassing Colonel Ikeda. Later, in retrospect, I was extremely apologetic to him for that rudeness, but he understood my fear and said he would have done the same thing.

For now, everyone opened up, the Demolishers blasting the floating Wraiths apart with sheer firepower, their Demolisher siege cannons obliterating these specters to bits. I was relieved to see that none of them were getting up, and even as their phasing ability allowed them to survive a few of the Demolisher bombardment, the numerous blue-hot plasma blasts from the Executioners at the back ensured that they wouldn't be coming back up. Within minutes, the cavern was silent once again, the Wraiths having been annihilated as suddenly as they appeared.

However, we weren't given time to feel relieved. During the battle, the humming had somehow grew louder and with a brilliant flash of sickly green light, a massive object materialized in front of us. No. It wasn't an object. It was a floating vehicle.

"That's an Obelisk!" I gasped fearfully, recognizing the heavily armored black, cubic vehicle that was around the same size as a Baneblade super-heavy tank and a little bigger than the Doomhammer Colonel Ikeda was riding in. Almost simultaneously, two pyramid-shaped Monoliths teleported right beside it, flanking the enormous floating vehicle-structure, and Necron warriors began pouring out of their Eternity Gates.

"Destroy them!" Colonel Ikeda's enraged voice bellowed over the vox channels, stirring the stunned and shell-shocked tank crews into opening fire on the incoming Necron troops. "In the name of the Emperor, we shall not suffer the presence of these accursed xenos!"

The Leman Russ Demolishers pulverized huge number of advancing Necron warriors, but while only very few numbers succeeded in reanimating, the silver and green tide of skull-faced killers swept toward us, heedless of their comrades' sacrifices. Unfortunately, the Leman Russ Demolishers' Demolisher siege cannons had a very short range so the Necron warriors were able to fire back. With the massed fire of their gauss flayers, even the heavily armored hull of the Leman Russ Demolishers began to buckle and collapse, the once proud tanks turning into scrap metal. The surviving tank crews bailed out a their vehicles shattered and exploded, and tried to make a break for the Chimeras behind them. Not even half of them made it.

"Cover them!" Colonel Ikeda yelled, moving his tanks up to support the fleeing survivors. In a single volley, we had lost our entire column of Leman Russ Demolishers. Fortunately, the Leman Russ Executioners were up to the job, melting hordes of Necron warriors with blinding, hot plasma and ensuring they wouldn't be getting up. The Leman Russ Punishers, manned by tank commanders, applied the concept of an unsubtle bullet hose to great effect, mowing the approaching Necron warriors with rending Punisher rounds. The Executioners had longer range and were able to keep a distance while the Punishers ceased their firing to fall back. "Wipe them out!"

"I'll protect them," I offered as I stepped forward, my Knight Crusader razing the Necron warriors mercilessly with my Avenger Gatling cannon. Raising my rapid-fire battle cannon, I let loose a couple of devastating volleys, the large blasts powerfully pulverizing the Necron warriors, ripping them apart to the extent they could never reanimate. However, the Necron warriors' numbers seemed endless. "Aw, frak it, they just keep coming, don't they?!"

Keeping ahead to cover the survivors, I stepped right in the path of the Gauss flayers. The skeletal killers grimly advanced as they blasted away with their gauss weaponry, confident that they would wreck my Knight the way they did to the poor Leman Russ Demolishers earlier. To their surprise, their gauss flayers were ineffective against my ion shields, the spiked rounds harmlessly deflected off the gleaming protective wall of energy.

I grinned as I responded with a burst of fire that obliterated a whole row of up as I stepped past the running remnants of tank crews, I saw that the Necron warriors were pouring out of the Monoliths' Eternity Gates. Moving my eyes away from my auspexes, I tapped the screen for voxing.

"Colonel Ikeda, it seems the Necrons are reinforcing their numbers by sending troops through the Monoliths' Eternity Gates. I suggest we prioritize their destruction, otherwise we'll run out of ammo and energy."

"Good idea." I watched as the _Emperor's Wrath_ raised its Magma cannon to aim at the super-heavy Obelisk and fired, visiting upon it the wrath of the Emperor. The first blast sent the Obelisk toppling, and the next few blasts rammed gaping holes into the cracking surface. I followed up with a volley of rockets from my Stormspear rocket pods and watched with satisfaction as explosions lit up the interior of the alien vehicle. "Those Monoliths are next."

None of the three floating structures got close enough to deliver vengeance upon us, their Tesla spheres, Gauss Flux Arcs and Particle Whips out of range. Heck, never mind the ridiculously long range of the Magma cannon, even the Leman Russ Executioner's main and sponson plasma cannons outranged them. Before the Monoliths could come within range of their deadly Gauss Flux Arrays, they buckled under the sheer power of the _Emperor's Wrath_ 's Magama cannon, the devastating weapon punching holes through their living metal and immolating them. Designed to take down even a Titan, the _Emperor's Wrath_ had no problems with lesser enemies.

With the three massive structure-vehicles down, the numbers of the Necron warriors dwindled, the skeletal soldiers easily taken care of by our heavily armed tanks. Still, the victory was a sour one. We had lost the entirety of the 74th Battalion's Leman Russ Demolishers in this single exchange and we knew the war was far from over.

"Oh, boy." I watched the smoking wrecks of the Demolishers, vaguely aware of the poor survivors pitifully climbing aboard the Chimeras with space to spare. Most of them had, with their 12-men capacity only accommodating 10-men squads. It would be a bit crowded on the return journey, but the remnants of the Demolisher tank crews had no reason to complain, having just escaped barely with their lives. "That was a disaster."

"That it was," Colonel Ikeda agreed as he sighed heavily. "Damn it."

That was an understatement. As if mocking us, the structure burst into life again, its green light crackling and bathing the cavern in eerie illumination. I could see a second Obelisk and more Monoliths materializing in front of the structure and Necron warriors pouring out of the Eternity Gates again.

"Not again," I groaned, reluctant to repeat the whole ordeal. Fortunately, Colonel Ikeda was wise enough not to put his forces through a battle of attrition. Already some of the Leman Russ Executioners were smoking, having overheated from the over-judicious use of their deadly plasma weapons.

"Retreat! Everyone, retreat!"

Thankfully, the Necrons didn't follow us out of the cavern, seemingly contented to stay where they were, as if their utmost priority was to guard that structure. Not caring about their alien motives and relieved of not needing to face them - the front armor of my Knight Crusader was smouldering with craters from the places where my ion shield had failed - I marched out of the cavern, taking the rear and keeping my ion shield to the back just in case the skeletal soldiers decided to take potshots at us.

Fortunately, they didn't and we were on our way back to base before we knew it, weary, demoralized and slipping into shock.

* * *

"Report," Archmagos Styrimidon commanded tersely when I returned to the command bunker with Colonel Ikeda at my side. It wasn't a rude or overbearing order, merely stated matter-of-factly because he needed to know what had just transpired.

"I believe we've found the location of the STCs," Colonel Ikeda began sourly. Archmagos Styrimidon nodded, his fuzzy image rippling across the poor quality holo-pict.

"Yes, I saw the readings of your sensors. There is a 98.7% probability that the STCs our probes detected was located in the cavern you uncovered. You engaged in combat with the Necrons, if I recall."

"The Necrons are here in force," Colonel Ikeda confirmed. "At least battalion size, if not larger. They took out an entire column of tanks."

"All of our Leman Russ Demolishers got demolished," I offered helpfully, but neither Colonel Ikeda nor Archmagos Styrimidon was in the mood for jokes. "We executed the first wave with our Leman Russ Executioners and visited the Emperor's wrath on them with the _Emperor's Wrath_."

"I apologize for your loss, Colonel," Archmagos Styrimidon said, though I could tell he was sorrier about the loss of fighting men and military resources to further his quest than the actual loss of lives. "I think you can pull the 74th Battalion of the Draconian Armored Defense Force back and have your hard-earned rest. Leave the rest to my Skitarii legions and Legio Cybernetica."

Colonel Ikeda's eyes widened. "You mean you're going to send your own Mechanicus forces into that cavern?" He blurted out. Archmagos Styrimidon nodded gravely as he glanced at Magos Sigmar and Alpha Primus Stroika, the mechanically augmented duo saluting and making the sign of the cog to display their compliance.

"As this is the Adeptus Mechanicus's mission, it is only proper that we do the job ourselves. Besides, our infantry and walkers are more suited for a subterranean battle than your tanks, and they can move through any kind of terrain present underground. Your tanks do not have that function. Furthermore, you're unable to utilize your full war potential without the aerial support of your Vendetta gunships. We'll take over from here."

"All right," Colonel Ikeda sighed, both in frustration and in relief. While it pained him to drop a mission halfway, he was clearly relieved that he didn't need to send his men in to die against the cold and ruthless Necrons. That fearful xenos race was notorious for being mercilessly killing machines with advanced weaponry that could disintegrate a man with one shot.

"I would like the Great Houses Yato, Uesugi and Takeda to remain behind with the Guard to man the base's defense," Archmagos Styrimidon continued, surprising me.

"Huh? Really? Don't you need our fire support?"

"No." Archmagos Styrimidon shook his head. "Apparently our fleet has detected a new fleet translating into the system from the Warp. They are definitely not of Imperial design. Actually...their appearance and transmission codes seem to be that of the Archenemy."

That was then I realized the reason why the archmagos wanted the Imperial Knights to back up the Imperial Guard. If the new fleet was indeed that of the Archenemy, there were certain to be Traitor Marines within their forces. If that was the case, the Imperial Guard would be hard-pressed to counter them. Even when twisted by the Warp, these superhuman beings maintained their elite statuses and martial prowess, their skills in combat matched only by the highly revered Adeptus Astartes. Rather, the rampant mutations the Warp cursed them with only served to transform them into even more horrifying monsters. The Imperial Guard was going to need every Imperial Knight on Asmodai to help them fight off this immense threat. I had the feeling Styrimidon would begin deploying the three massive Titans that had remained in orbit for the initial phase of the operation.

As for the Necrons, well, the Skitarii was a good match for them. I could imagine their conflict, the war being a cold, silent and merciless one as two armies of machines, one silver and green, the other red and black, clashed in the darkness with advanced weaponry, mechanical calculations, ruthless efficiency and sophisticated technology. It would be a sight to see and I was sad that I would miss it.

However, I would almost rather fight elite Traitor Marines than the inhuman Necrons. Even if they were the Archenemy, at least I could understand their motives, their fears, their goals, and what drove them. The Necrons, however, even among the xenos they were completely alien, killing without any clear motive or goal in mind. Unlike the Tyranids who scourged the galaxy for biomass or Orks who reveled in the bloodlust of combat, the Necrons killed just because they killed. This time they were killing to protect their precious structure, but in time when they built up a huge enough force I was sure they would emerge from their underground catacombs and purge the system of life.

I could only hope the Mechanicus army succeeded in eliminating them before they did.


	9. 1001

1001

Despite the millions of Skitarii at his disposal, Alpha Primus Raiji-44 Stroika did not like sending them to their deaths. The Skitarii might be remorseless, cold and efficient killers, but treating valuable soldiers as expendable was far from efficient.

Unlike most forge worlds in the Imperium, Draconis IV actually valued the lives of their mechanical soldiers, and Stroika agreed with that assessment. On a planet so far away from the Draconis system, there was no easy way to replace the soldiers that he lose. Losses and casualties were inevitable, yes, but through careful planning, cautious calculations and meticulous execution, they could be mitigated and minimized. To lose an entire maniple of Skitarii just to claim a single objective was not efficient and extremely short-sighted. If another mission or unexpected scenario would to occur, Stroika would find it difficult to operate with such significant reduction in number, manpower and firepower.

Furthermore, each Skitarius grew stronger as he survived. The creed of the Adeptus Mechanicus was _knowledge is power_ , and no adept embodied that more than the warriors of the Skitarii legions. Their knowledge of combat grew with every battle survived, their reflexes honed and senses optimized through invaluable experience that could only be gained on the battlefield. Most Magi from other forge worlds might claim that the knowledge sent back to them from dead Skitarii was power enough. Stroika and his master, Archmagos Styrimidon, knew better. Knowledge was not merely information. The reflexes encoded into the biological neural tissue that remained despite extensive mechanical augmentation could not be replicated by the data packets streamed back to _Yamato_ 's monitors and pict-screens. The abstract sixth sense and instincts that Skitarii warriors developed during war, while dismissed by Magi from other forge worlds as absurd and completely illogical, had time and time proved its existence to the Archmagos Explorator in his centuries of waging warfare.

As such, Stroika, having learned from Archmagos Styrimidon, was imbued with the same values and mentality.

The Skitarii marched wordlessly to the cavern where the Imperial Guard and Knights had encountered the Necrons, their only conversation embedded in data packets and information streaming in the invisible noosphere all around them. Binaric blurts hissed quietly, correctign a vector or angle in which the relentless Rangers marched, or the hulking figures of the Onager Dunecrawlers moved, their heavy, metallic legs sinking deeply into the ground as they lifted the ungainly main bodies across difficult or dangerous terrain.

The Skitarii Vanguard formed the...well, vanguard of the maniple, their rad carbines bristling with lethal radiation. Each squad of 10 Vanguard had at least three of their soldiers armed with plasma calivers, the weapons having been improved with the latest technology that the Artisans in Draconis IV had managed to glean from Tau plasma weaponry. Behind them were the loping forms of the Ironstrider Ballistarii, their lanky and fragile frames striding over the hard, granite ground. Unseen were the Sicarian Infiltrators, the shadowy assassins having already slipped into cover and preparing for a deep strike.

Stroika had ordered that most of the Onager Dunecrawlers had their Icarus arrays be replaced by neutron lasers. As the battle would be taking place in the subterranean cavern, the Necrons were unlikely to employ their mysterious aircraft. As vast as the cavern might be, there simply was no space for the high-speed flyers to maneuver and fight effectively. This was a relief. According to the information and combat data that he had downloaded from the noosphere and Manifold regarding previous skirmishes with Necrons, Stroika knew that one of the popular strategies that the Necrons favored was "Flyer Spam" or "Flying Circus".

The strategy apparently involved maxing out Necron troops such as Warriors or Immortals, stacking them all into as many Night Scythes as possible, accompanying them with half as many empty Night Scythes and half as many Doom Scythes, before raining down green, disintegrating death upon their poor victims. It was brutal, it was effective and it was nearly impossible to beat.

One irate Guardsman had even went on a rant on how it was "Cheese" or "super-cheesy", but Stroika filed that irrelevant but interesting tidbit away. Having no idea what cheese had anything to do with Night Scythes or Doom Scythes for he had long discarded his olfactory and taste senses, Stroika concluded the Guardsman was hungry when he made that remark.

Ironically, the Guardsman was part of the 24th Elysian Drop Troops, whose commander had responded that they shall counter the Necron Air Force's "Cheese" with cheese of their own by fielding as many Vendetta Gunships as possible while requisitioning entire batteries of Hydra Flak Tanks. When they finally won with that formation, the commander gave a short speech (the Ecclesiarchy asked him to encourage the citizens of the Imperium through obvious propaganda) where he merely licked his lips and said, "delicious. The cheese was delicious, and so were the opponents' tears."

Stroika recalled that examination of Necrons showed that they were biologically incapable of shedding tears or any kind of organic liquid so he didn't understand what the commander was talking about.

In any case, it was a good thing that they didn't have to deal with "Flyer Spam" within the tight confines of the cavern.

As the Skitarii marched relentlessly into the cavern, backed up by the monstrous Kastelan robots and Kataphron battle-servitors behind them, their auspexes and omnispexes picked up a lot of readings. During the time the Imperial Guard had retreated and was replaced by the Skitarii and Legio Cybernetica, the Necrons had mustered a full force. No longer just two floating Monoliths, nearly a hundred of them hung suspended within the huge space, backed up by ten Obelisks. Entire armies of Necron Warriors stood ready, flanked by their Immortal comrades, as they prepared to guard the strange construct behind them, which caused the Mechanicus sensors to jump crazily.

The STCs were definitely there.

Mixed into the forces were Canoptek Wraiths, Canoptek Spyders and Canoptek Scarabs, the mechanical units scrambling around to find a target. The ghostly Wraiths floated along the shadows, phasing through walls with their intangible forms. The colossal Spyders accidentally crushed several Warriors underfoot, who promptly got back to life thanks to their Reanimation Protocols.

Stroika sighed when he saw that. He knew that Reanimation Protocol was going to be a pain despite his Skitarii and the Kastelan robots possessing Feel No Pain.

Multitudes of Destroyers and Heavy Destroyers - led by Destroyer Lords, rows of Tomb Blades, scuttling Flayed Ones and columns of Annihilation Barges and Doomsday Arks were interspersed with the main troops, the heavy vehicles lingering at the back to provide long-range artillery with the Doomsday cannon and the infantry zipping around with their jet packs and jetbikes.

An Alpha Primus of a Skitarii legion from another Forge World might have ruthlessly ordered his forces to charge straight at the Necron army, but the Skitarii commanders of Draconis IV operated differently. They did not needlessly sacrifice and expend the lives of their men. Even if the tech-priests of Draconis IV were to successfully recover the hidden STCs inside the Necrons' tomb, they would still be tasked to fly out to Hell's Claws next to recover the legendary omnicopaeia. To waste a large chunk of their forces and combat potential in a suicidal charge here would not see the Skitarii perform efficiently in their next mission.

To waste the lives of his Skitarii by throwing them into the deadly line of Necrons was not only inefficient, it was a waste of resources – especially when he needed those valuable resources for future missions. It was also an insult to the Omnissiah to treat his highly revered creations like expendables.

No. Stroika would be smart and cautious about it.

Besides, Stroika had learned from the combat and tactical data regarding Necrons that suicidal charges and a war of attrition were unwise maneuvers against a still largely unknown enemy who could possible possess superior numbers and perpetual reinforcements from whatever xenos portal or gate they were using. Stroika knew the tech-priests were interested in studying the Necrons' incredibly ancient technology, but that goal was secondary to the recovery of STCs and defeat of the enemy. To win, Stroika couldn't throw fresh meat at the meat grinder and expect the machine to break down. He had learned from his data that four infantry regiments from the Death Korps of Krieg had tried that on the mining hive world of Hieronymous Theta and learned the hard way that throwing bodies at the Necrons to overwhelm them was inefficient and an impossibility. Inevitably, the campaign was a catastrophic failure and the soulless guardsmen were forced to leave the planet for Exterminatus.

The Skitarii of Draconis IV never liked the Death Korps of Krieg because of their fanaticism and inefficient manner of sacrificing soldiers, and in the few times he served with them, Stroika almost came to blows with the Death Korps regiments.

He was determined not to repeat the same mistake they made. Repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result was the epitome of stupidity. The Death Korps of Krieg, to Stroika, represented that.

[Open fire,] he ordered the vehicles in a binaric blurt.

As one the Onager Dunecrawlers and Ironstrider Ballistraii opened up, their neutron lasers and lascannons atomizing and shredding the massed ranks of Necrons. Such was the power of the energy weapons that the Necrons were unable to reanimate, their bodies blasted apart atom by atom. Making use of the Skitarii's superior range, Stroika commanded volley after volley of devastating laser fire, blowing up countless xenos into their component atoms.

Recognizing the threat, the Necrons advanced, returning fire with their gauss weaponry or tesla carbines. The Vanguard stepped forward to screen the walkers, but their defense was unneeded. The Onager Dunecrawlers' Emanatus forcefields shimmered as the gauss fire hammered them, but the Field Harmonics strengthened the forcefields by combining them into a much stronger barrier, which helped them withstand the spiked barrage, the exotic projectiles merely causing ripples across the advanced shielding that protected the heavy walkers.

If the Necrons were surprised that their gauss weaponry, so effective against the more heavily armored Leman Russ Demolisher tanks, did no damage to the meticulously shielded Onager Dunecrawlers, they didn't show it. Instead, they continued to march grimly toward the determined line of Skitarii Vanguard, who awaited them with overwatch fire from their deadly rad carbines.

And then, the two armies met in a silent clash. Green and silver machine-cold killers collided with red and black mechanical soldiers forcefully, augmented limbs, advanced weaponry and metal ripping into each other. The cold, eerily gleaming metallic skulls of the Necrons stared expressionlessly at the dull, dark and smooth masks of the Skitarii, who returned with hollowed gazes through their goggle augmetics. Where most armies would scream, taunt and roar at their enemies, the two forces fought silently, the army of the Mechanicus communicating through wordless streams of data in their invisible noosphere and the Necrons in their alien, united mentality of annihilating whatever was in their way. Absent was the ferocity and rage with which warriors of all races screamed at their foes, replaced by cold, efficient calculations, methodical murder and ruthless fighting. The only sounds that filled the cavern were the barks of rifles, the shrieks of laser and exotic energies, the thunder of heavy cannons.

The flayed ones were cut apart by Sicarian Ruststalkers, their skeletal frames and stolen hides no match for transonic weaponry. The spindly assassins then moved to engage the Canoptek Wraiths that drifted about, dissecting unfortunate Skitarii Vanguard with their sharp, whip-like coils before phasing out of danger. Led by Princeps Rho-Mannu, the Ruststalkers darted through the throng of Warriors and so-called Immortals, leaving a trail of cleaved Necrons as they made their way toward the ghostly enemy. The Wraiths proved invulnerable to the Ruststalkers at first, but as more data flooded in from the survivors' experience, they learned to time their attacks correctly, calculating to the closest microsecond and striking with pinpoint accuracy. They stepped back whenever the Wraiths dematerialized and phased into intangibility, biding their time. When the Wraiths materialized to eviscerate their supposedly vulnerable foes, the Ruststalkers struck. In time it was the Ruststalkers who were dismembering their foes, leaving a trail of dead Wraiths in their wake.

The cybernetic assassins may lack the martial prowess, combat skill and superhuman strength of the vaunted Adeptus Astartes, but they possessed unrivalled efficiency, uncanny precision and most of all, knowledge to deal with their foes. Numbers streamed down their optical augmetics, indicating the moment to attack down to the microsecond, their bioware issuing astute calculations, angles and simulated trajectories, allowing the Skitarii to fight as well as, if not better than their Space Marine counterparts. This, Stroika took grim pride in as he ducked under a spiked gauss projectile from a Necron Warrior and responded with a blast from his galvanic rifle, knocking it over. At his signal, a Vanguard pumped the fallen body with three blue spherical blasts from his plasma caliver, melting the xenos and its nearby comrades into molten slag. There was no reanimating from that attack.

The Necron Overlord, hiding at the back with its Annihilation Barge, continued to issue commands, its skeletal mask frozen in a perpetual snarl. Or was that an illusion that served to intimidate its enemies? Not caring, Stroika sent a binaric blurt to his forces as he directed them to take out the Necron warlord.

In response, a team of Sicarian Infiltrators descended behind the Overlord, dropping from behind the shadows. The Overlord staggered, hit by the Infiltrators' potent Neurostatic Aura. While the Infiltrators were listening to pop psalms that sang the praise of the Omnissiah in a hip manner, their enemies only heard howling static and mind-piercing noise that turned their vision white and obstructed their other senses. Pressing their advantage, the Sicarian Infiltrators prodded the Overlord with their taser goads until it fell over, dead. No matter what armor or shielding it possessed, there was no way the Overlord could make all its saves from the sheer number of attacks, particularly when the taser goads exploded with crackling energy once every six times to deal an extra attack.

With the warlord slain, the Infiltrators turned to the rest of the Necron Royal Court, peppering the remaining Overlord, various Lords and many Crypteks with flechette blasters before advancing to engage them in melee with their taser goads. The Ruststalkers followed their example, advancing on the firing Annihilation Barges and Doomsday Arks, and tossing their mindscrambler grenades at the offending vehicles. The grenades caused the alien vehicles' systems to go haywire, powerful electromagnetic pulses shooting through the floating vehicles and shorting them out. The Annihilation Nexus crashed to the ground and the Infiltrators were on them, once again lashing out at the surviving crew with their taser goads. More Infiltrators were dropping from the shadows, disrupting the Necron commanders while the Ruststalkers continued to target Necron vehicles to inflict maximum damage.

The Rangers had gotten close enough to unleash their arc rifles on the devastating Monoliths and Obelisks, the blue-white energy crackling from their highly advanced weapons to the seemingly impenetrable black walls of the floating pyramids. A sustained barrage of lightning saw one Monolith explode, and another, and eventually even the resilient Obelisks cracked under the onslaught, blowing up in spectacular fashion under the combined firepower of haywire energy and neutron lasers. The Necrons were beginning to buckle under pressure, and despite calling upon more Warriors and Immortals from the remaining Monoliths' Eternity Gates, the reinforcements were unable to turn the tide. The Kataphron Destroyers rolled forward, their Cognis flamers flaring as they bathed the freshly arrived Warriors in promethium, their plasma culverins vaporizing the Immortals, and the Kastelan Robots unleashed a bombardment of blazing phosphor from their phosphor blasters, incinerating the Necron soldiers further.

As more Monoliths were lost, lesser reinforcements could arrive.

However, Stroika was in no mood to celebrate. Having remembered the information imparted to him from the beaten Imperial Guard and Imperial Knights, he knew the battle was far from over. As he directed his forces to continue their assault, he sent a binary blurt to the Tech-priest Dominous, Sigmar, who was cleaving through a horde of Warriors with his power axe and pumping volkite shots into them with his volkite blaster.

[We need to disable the structure fast before they can teleport more Monoliths and Obelisks in.]

[I understand. Kastelan Robot Maniple, Sigma-42, follow me!]

Two cybernetica datasmiths, Xi-Lomar and Rho-Gox, immediately ceased firing with their gamma pistols and obeyed. The four Kastelan robots in their charge lumbered after them, their hulking frames smashing past any Warrior foolish enough to stand in their way, their phosphor blasters continuing to lay down suppressive fire even as they moved. Sigmar cleaved his way through more Warriors, a few Tomb Blades and Lynchguard cut down by Ironstrider Ballistarii lascannon fire before they could reach him. A few Triarch Praetorians stood in his way but they were quickly gunned down, being no match for the sheer firepower of the Kastelan robots. A looming Triarch Stalker scuttled toward the cybernetica group to scythe them down, but Xi-Lomar and Rho-Gox responded with twin blasts from their gamma pistols, melting the walker's mechanical legs and sending it careening to one side. Vaulting over the fallen walker, Sigmar let loose a burst of shots from his macrostubber, making sure the Triarch Stalker stayed down for good.

Sigmar finally reached the glowing structure, his mechadendrites unfolding to reveal a bulky item that his augmented body had been carrying throughout the entire battle. Placing it at the foot of the sickly luminous arch, he plugged his mechadendrites into the object and began programming it for its primary function. From a distance, Stroika saw in his noosphere that it was an electromagnetic field disrupter, designed to dissipate and disrupt the exotic and alien energies that the Necrons wielded. When activated, it would depower the Necron tomb and allow the tech-priests to safely come in, dismantle and dissect the structure, recover the STCs and perhaps learn something about the mysterious technology of the Necrons.

In fact, even now it was a technological warfare between the two silent, ruthless forces. The Draconian Tech-priests were utilizing the best technology the Adeptus Mechanicus could muster after extensive research against the highly advanced but alien technology of the arcane Necrons. The forge world of Draconis IV might have a lot to learn from the Necrons' xenotech, but they hardly contemplated the possibility of defeat in a war of wits and brute force against their skeletal foes. No matter how superior the enemies' technology might be, there was no race in the galaxy who excelled in killing like the Skitarii and warrior-Magi of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Even the monstrous Tyranids inevitably encountered inefficiency in their evolution paths and forced mutations, their vile acid, corrosive bile and digestive fluids were no match for whatever new metal the innovative Artisans of the Mechanicus could quickly develop and produce.

The Necrons' assault grew fiercer, as if they were aware of the urgency of preventing the Mechanicus from disrupting their reinforcements. Heat rays, disintegration beams, tesla destructors all bombarded the towering Kastelan Robots, but every once in a while the Kastelan Robots' Repulsor Grid would repulse the shooting attacks, deflecting the attack back to the offending perpetuator. A Triarch Stalker went down in this way, its own heat ray melting its robotic limbs. A Necron Warrior lost its head from its own gauss volley.

The Kastelan Robots were not merely passive defenders with their Aegis Protocols in place. Even though neither Xi-Lomar nor Rho-Gox was inclined to switch to Protector Protocols for more firepower, they continued to lay down a suppressive fire of devastating phosphor chemicals to set the Necrons ablaze, the reanimating skeletal warriors finished off by plasma spheres from the Vanguards' plasma calivers.

The Rangers had finished off the present Monoliths and Obelisks with the sheer amount of energy crackling from their arc rifles and now turned their attention to the remaining vehicles. Jetbikes were shorted out, Annihilation Barges annihilated and Doomsday Arks doomed. Relentlessly marching toward the busy and vulnerable Tech-priest Dominus, they formed a protective ring around him, their galvanic rifles and arc rifles pointing outward and unleashing destruction while Magos Sigmar worked tirelessly.

Just in time too. The Kastelan Robots' Repulsor Grids were failing under the vicious onslaught, and even the Onager Dunecrawlers who arrived to defend them found their Emanatus forcefield, already enhanced by Field Harmonics, buckling under the unceasing bombardment.

[Done.]

Sigmar distributed an invisible warning before he "threw the switch". In a split second, a burst of electromagnetic wave spread over the structure and the green light instantly winked out. The structure transformed from a luminous alien tomb into a black, metallic protrusion in a second, and the following silence – not just sound waves but also crackling energy signatures and electromagnetic radiation – was deafening.

The remaining Necrons found themselves trapped, cut off from reinforcements and without any route of retreat. Hemmed in by ruthless Skitarii soldiers from all sides, they were atomized by focused streams of neutron lasers from groups of Onager Dunecrawlers. It didn't matter if they were Tomb Blades, Destroyers, Heavy Destroyers, Destroyer Lords, Warriors, Immortals, Lynchguard, Triarch Praetorians, Triarch Stalkers, Canoptek Spyders, Canoptek Wraiths, Canoptek Scarabs, Annihilation Barges, Doomsday Arks or remnants of the Royal Court, they were all vaporized by the sheer might of Skitarii and Mechanicus firepower.

And just as suddenly as they appeared, the Necrons vanished, even their reanimation protocols unable to save them.

[That was close,] Magos Sigmar let out an uncharacteristic breath of relief. [All right, we can allow the xenotechnologists to examine the structure. I'll lead a team of Magi to find the STCs. I'll leave the security of the area to you, Alpha Primus.]

[Understood,] Stroika responded, already sending codes to his Alpha subordinates and delegating sentries, guards and other duties. [We'll ensure the sacred work of the Omnissiah continues without interruption.]

[For the Omnissiah.]

Even as streams of data and code flowed furiously through the noosphere, the Manifold alive with crackling information, instructions and orders, to an unaugmented witness the cavern appeared to be strangely silent and devoid of life.

The servants of the Omnissiah continued their work in perceived silence, the overwhelming noise of data and transmissions in the lively noosphere heard only by them.

* * *

When the Necron portal deactivated on the other side, the Overlords of some unknown dynasty began to stir restlessly. That tomb world was supposed to be a gateway for their massive Necron forces, which were currently assembling to scourge all life in the Maelstrom.

With the portal now close off to them, the Necrons were furious – if they could be said to experience such emotion. No…rather than rage, what drove them was cold ruthlessness and unfeeling determination to continue waging the war in any manner possible. The tomb world must be recaptured and the portal reactivated.

Fortunately, that particular Necron dynasty had just a thing.

A Necron fleet was floating at the edge of the Maelstrom, having been dispatched ages ago to observe the system. The Overlords, defying Man's understanding of science, sent orders to the Necron fleet so many light years away, ordering them to plot a course to Asmodai.

The Necron fleet was small, consisting of only a single Carin class tomb ship, a Shroud class light cruiser, two Dirge class raiders and two Jackal class raiders. Despite being so few in numbers, the Necron fleet packed tremendous firepower, possessing the ability to defeat larger ships and greater numbers because of their highly advanced technology.

The Necron Overlord in command of the Carin class tomb ship received the order and immediately complied, without any hesitation, fear or tension in his response. Whatever emotions he had once possessed had been stripped away when the Necrontyr were transformed into the cold, unfeeling Necrons they were today.

The Necron fleet began to slowly made their way toward Asmodai, silently confident in their superior technology and firepower and safe in the knowledge that the human fleet in orbit would be made short work of.


End file.
